Kingdom Hearts: Waltz of Memories
by Emy09
Summary: Ever felt like something was missing? Like you've forgotten something very important?Remembering is never easy, and there often is a reason why you forgot. Set after KH2. *On Hiatus* T T sorry
1. Prologue

**Author's note: **Well first of all, I want to thank everyone that will be reading this story. This is my first try at writing, fan-fiction or other, solely in english so please be kind ( I'm a francophone, so if there are any mistakes that I might have missed, please tell me). And please review . The rating here is mostly for a ff7-in-character Cid, but it might go up later on ( and please tell me if I rated it alright). Sorry for the yaoi fans, but there won't be any in this fic (it will still be good!!). And sorry for the OCs haters, there is one in here, but I think she's well integrated. Alright now let's get down to it. A bit of Cloud and Leon angst, but don't worry, won't always be like that. Cookies for the Xigbar and X-men 2 references. Oh! and I don't think I need to mention that I don't own any of those characters, 'cept for Mary. Enjoy!

_**Beta wanted!!!**_

I'm currently looking for a beta for this fic, so if you like it and are interesed, send me a message.

Thanks!!!

* * *

**Kingdom Hearts: **

**Waltz of Memories**

Prologue

'Aerith says he's dying Cloud, pleaded Yuffie to the older man who stood coldly in front of her, staring at the floor. What HAPPENED!?!?' she asked, the strength of her desperation echoing in her voice.

The blonde haired warrior sighed heavily, lifting his weight from the living room's wall, and stood in front of the young ninja, his eyes floating slightly over the so-close-yet-so-far door that led out of the common house before falling down on the girl's small frame.

He should have been long gone by now... All eyes were on him now. Yuffie's and Tifa's dark irises, Cid's and Merlin's sharp blue eyes, Aerith's sad green gaze... He looked away momentarily and breathed in, wondering how the hell he would explain something he didn't understand in the first place. Then, he faced the others, his eyes lingering on the viridian-eyed brunette for an instant.

-' I... I don't understand what happened, he begun. I... I was... I was about to leave... then Leon...'

… … … … …

Cloud slowly closed the door to Aerith's room as he finished adjusting his shoulder pad, trying not to break the peaceful silence that ruled over the house after nightfall. As noisy and chaotic as Merlin's house, or the Radiant Garden restoration committee's HQ and common house, as Yuffie renamed it, could be during daytime, when all of it's occupants would fall asleep, the place became totally different, an aura of calm and well-earned rest falling over it.

_'Not that any of the others would ever know it'_ Cloud thought. He was probably the only one who'd ever get up at this hour... The blonde closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the serenity he always felt here, always there yet always too short, an ephemeral glimpse of a happiness that would never be his.

She would be sad tomorrow, he knew it. Her soft, comforting eyes would open on an empty room, and might even shed a tear, and he wouldn't be there to see it. He would be far away when she'd wake up, and yet she would greet him with open arms when he'd dare showing up a bit later on. Damn, he wasn't even gone and he was already felling bad. ' _C'mon Strife_, he thought to himself_, it's now or never'_. He knew that if he hesitated any longer, he would walk right back into the flower girl's room. And he could not do that to her. He had to protect her from his darkness, and from these visions he had of her, dying on Sephiroth's blade. Be a sight of the future, of a past life or just a creation of his twisted mind, he could not care less. The only thing that mattered is that whenever he was around, Aerith wasn't safe. He wasn't strong enough to help anyone, so how could he protect her? No, it was better that way.

Cloud opened his eyes and started to walk down the corridor, careful not to make any sound.

They were all better without him, he thought.

The wooden floor creaked as he was halfway through the hallway. He had to watch out for those noisy planks, he mentally noted, before realising he knew them by heart and that the sound came from a few footsteps behind him.

The next thing he knew, the fair haired man was violently pinned on the wall by an angry looking Leon.

-' What do you think you doing?' said the gunblader in a low yet ice cold tone.

The other man, surprised at first by the sudden attack, relaxed momentarily when he recognised his friend, then composed himself to his usual reserved and stoic attitude.

-' Leaving. Why should you care?' replied the blonde warrior, granting the brunette a glare much like his own.

-'... And just where do you think you're going? 'asked the taller man, a peak of anger piercing through his usually emotionless tone as he strongly pushed Strife on the wall once more.

-'Why don't you mind your own business?' stroke back the blonde man, sick of being pushed around, as he shrugged out Squall's grip, considering this lovely discussion over. He tried to step away from the man, only to get pinned on the wall once again, only harder this time, a loud thud echoing in the hallway as Cloud's body collided with the wall.

-'Oh! And by that you would mean making sure the only sane person left in this house won't wake up crying because she's fallen for an idiot who can't stay with her for more than 24 hours in a row?!' roared Leon, his voice filled with contained anger.

The man had been quite edgy of late, and it seemed to the fair-haired warrior that he had decided to let it out on him. Fine, Cloud thought, two can play that game.

-'Don't worry, she's a big girl, she can take care of herself', he said with a sarcastically mocking tone.

-' And how could you know? snapped the tall brunette. You're never there'.

That did it. The smaller blonde pushed the man to the other side of the corridor, decided to let out some of his own frustrations.

-'Quit the protecting act Leon, we all know you don't give a damn', proclaimed the fair-haired soldier.' How long has it been? Ten years today no? Makes you feel any better when you protect them as if they still were kids??' he said, shouting this time, disturbing the calm of the night.

He opened his mouth, ready to add more, ready to blame him for being what he could never be, for being able to do what he could never, but then he took a look on the gunblader's face. All the anger that was present a few seconds ago had been drained, leaving a stoic-yet-thoughtful look in the steel-eyed man's gaze. He had gone too far. No matter what he said to Leon, he never really meant it. They were friends after all, in a bizarre and quiet way, but still, Strife trusted Squall more than anyone else. Anger also left the blonde's features as he carefully avoided to meet Leon's eyes while bringing his gaze to his shoes.

-'Ten years already...', whispered the brunette slowly as he stepped away Cloud.

The pale haired warrior looked up, catching a glimpse of sadness on the face of his friend. He shouldn't have brought it up. The destruction of Radiant Garden never was a good thing to remember, even on it's anniversary.

The two men stood quiet in the hallway for a moment, letting the memory of that terrible day take over for an instant.

Sound coming from the nearest room shook the younger man out of his reverie. They had woken the others up. It was his last chance to leave. Ready to go, he took one last glance at the gunblader, and stopped dead in his tracks.

Everything that just happened was unusual, the two stoic men shouting at each other, then silently regretting and remembering, but that was something else. Leon's ever present frown was accentuated to a clear expression of pain, his jaw closed tight and his breath shallow as he clutched his chest with his left hand, his knuckles whitening from the pressure.

-'...'

Cloud stared at the older man with a worried look. He had seen him take hits take would have made other pass out without even grunting, and there he was, gasping and suffering and holding his chest as if his heart was about to pop out. The brunette tried to take a step, groaned in pain and fell on one knee.

-'...Leon?' said the blonde man, worry clearly audible in his voice as he leaned closer.

The man moaned once more and fell on all fours, trying to catch his breath through the waves of pain that rang in his body, crashing and smashing his heart as if it was stress ball.

-'...G-...g-get.. A-aerit-th...' muttered the gunblader, tears of agony starting to blur his sight.

Then he loudly fell to the ground, his hand still pressed on his chest, his whole body shaking in pain.

The spiky-haired man took a desperate look around him.

_''What the hell...?''_

-' Could you guys keep it quiet?' demanded a very sleepy Yuffie from the threshold of the room. 'It's merely 2 am and I would really like to...' started the young ninja before noticing that Squall was lying on the floor, gasping for air. 'Leon?? Cloud, what's...?'

-'Go get Aerith, Yuffie! commanded the man while turning the suffering brunette on his back.

Tears were now flowing slowly down the man's cheeks, a frown of incomprehension and pain stuck on his face as his body was spasmodically shaking from an unknown torture, his hand still grasping his white t-shirt in a desperate attempt to stop whatever was going on.

-'...But what...?'protested the girl while taking a step closer.

-'GET AERITH! NOW!' shouted Cloud as he tried to lift the suffering man to take him in a bed. Leon's weight lightened a little when Tifa appeared at the blonde man's side, helping him carrying the older man as Yuffie's footsteps echoed down the hallway floor.

… … … … … …

-'...So this is where Kairi comes from', said Riku as his friends and himself arrived in Radiant Garden's marketplace.

-'Yup!' Sora nodded.

-'... Looking good enough', commented the older boy.

The redheaded girl was looking all around her, her eyes shining with the pleasure of the discovery, and her two friends couldn't help but smile.

-'Yeah, thanks to Leon and the others. Should have seen it when it was all worn down...', the keyblader begun, before remembering a crucial detail. 'But, wait, the both of you have seen Hollow Bastion, no?' said the blue-eyed boy with a small frown.

The other boy looked down.

-'Yeah well I wasn't quite myself...' he muttered, avoiding his friend's gaze.

-'This is the same place?!' asked Kairi in astonishment, her blue eyes coming back on the boys for a moment.

The brunette nodded once more.

-'Yup!'

-'Let's go take a look around!' proposed the girl, already going down the stairs that led in the center of Radiant Garden's market.

Sora took a look at his best friend, who still seemed a bit uncomfortable about what had been said.

-'Hey! 'the keyblade master gave Riku a light punch on the shoulder. 'Don't worry 'bout that, 'kay?' he demanded with a contagious grin.

The silver-haired boy stared at him an instant, then gave him his arrogant grin as he shove him with his elbow.

-'Humph! As if!' he answered before starting to run to catch up with Kairi.

The brunette smiled, satisfied, and wanted to rush after his friends, but a laughter in the back of his head made him stop.

_'What's so funny?'_

_'Nothing...' Then a chuckle. 'He just... reminded me of someone...'_

_'...Who?'_

_'...Weren't you guys here because the King said Leon needed help?'_

The keyblader agreed mentally. That was Roxas' way of ending a conversation anyway. Hearing him inside his head had been weird at first, be he was getting used to it. Besides, that was his way of staying Roxas, and not just becoming part-of-Sora, and the boy understood this. He still felt bad for his nobody, and well, if that could make up for all the stuff that happened to him, then he didn't mind. And Roxas even gave good advices sometimes. Like right now.

Sora hurried down the stairs and into the marketplace, finding his friends buying three bars of sea-salt ice-cream from Donald's uncle.

-'Hey!' Kairi waved at her friend.

-' Here', said Riku when the keybalde bearer arrived, throwing him a light blue ice-cream bar.

The boy agilely grabbed the treat and took a bite in it. Sea-salt.

_'Your flavor, right?'_

The voice said nothing but the boy could feel his other's contentment. The young hero smiled, saluted Scrooge, then started to walk down the stairs that led out of the market and into the residential part of Radiant Garden, his friends by his side. The three of them strolled in silence, enjoying the salty-sweet taste of the ice-cream.

-'What do you think Leon need us for anyway?' asked the keyblade master, remembering the too short letter King Mickey sent them, as he swiftly finished to eat the cold treat.

-'Pro'bly to take care of a couple of heartless' answered the taller boy.

-'Then why insist on bringing Kairi along?' the younger boy insisted.

-' 'Cause I'm a good fighter!' proclaimed the redhead with an indignant look that made the boys chuckle.

-'Very funny', said Sora, thus gaining himself a small punch on the shoulder from the girl, followed by a smirk that quickly faded into a soft smile they shared for a moment.

Riku rolled his eyes in exasperation. He had nothing against his two best friends being in love with each other, but it was about high time one of them made a move. The teal-eyed boy smiled wickedly as he shoved the brunette, making him take a step towards the small framed girl, thus bringing their heads close enough to have the both of them sheepishly turn away, their cheeks blushing slyly.

-'Hey! Watch it!' said Sora to the older boy with a mean look, deliberately ignoring Roxas, whose laughter ran clearly although his skull.

The young man grinned, playing the innocent, granting the smaller boy a don't-know-what-you're-talking-about look, while their female friend simply giggled.

-' You're here.' Aerith's voice, filled with hope and relief, was heard as soon as Merlin's house came in sight, and the trio couldn't help but feeling tense, as if the burden that was taken from the woman's shoulders had been placed on theirs.

The keyblade master smiled as he waved to her.

-'What's going on?' he asked simply, noticing how the green-eyed brunette seemed sad and tired. 'Heartless?'

-'It's Leon', cracked Yuffie's voice as the ninja appeared behind the older girl. If the flower girl looked sad, the young girl seemed desperate and exhausted. 'He's... sick.'

The trio stood there in shock.

-'...What?!'

-'What do you mean, sick?'

-'...Is it bad?'

-'Why don't ya all come and see for yourselves?' proposed Cid, emerging in the doorway, and stepping back a second later, as Sora and his friends rushed in the gloomy spirited common house.

… … … … … … …

-'So... how long has he been like this?' asked the keyblade's chosen one, his blue eyes fixed on Leon, his friend laying in his room, his features still depicting steady pain, his breath uneasy and his hands firmly clutched even thought he was asleep.

-'Since yesterday morning', answered Aerith a sad tone in her soft voice. She stayed silent for a moment, and everyone could feel how discouraged she was. 'My magic doesn't work and Merlin says he can't help either, 'she sighted.

-'Even the King was powerless!' declared Yuffie downheartedly.

-'If only we could know what is wrong...' wished gently Tifa.

Silence reigned over the room for a moment, all it's occupants thinking and worrying about the fate of their friend.

-'Well...'Riku begun, breaking the silence, ' you said he's been grasping his chest, right?' The three women nodded. 'Then I'd say it has something to do with his heart,' slowly concluded the silver-haired boy.

-'...It would make sense,' admitted Sora.

Then they all fell silent once more, until the older boy turned to Kairi, who seemed to have some kind of inner discussion, after what she simply nodded and stood up.

-'Naminé says she's willing to give it a try', declared the redhead, incertitude audible in her tone. Riku smiled slightly. His thoughts exactly.

-'Who's that?' wondered Yuffie.

-'Long story', replied Sora, his eyes now fixed on his red-haired friend as she extended her hands over Leon's body.

Light started to irradiate from the young princess' heart, soft and delicate at the beginning, then periodically gaining intensity until it became almost impossible to bear. Through his almost closed eyelids though, the keyblade master could swear he saw a blonde haired girl standing instead of Kairi. Then the light swiftly went away, and the redhead turned around to face her friends, a delicate frown on her face.

-'She says... he's trying to remember something... but he can't because there's... a very powerful lock on his memories...' explained the young girl, pausing from time to time, listening to a voice she was the only one to hear.

-'Could she undo it? Riku asked while the others were still trying to understand the whole concept the girl was relating. They didn't have his experience on memories, neither had any of them worked with the mind witch before.

-'She can't', answered the princess of heart. 'She says only the one who made it can unlock it. And... she adds that we have to hurry...'

_''Hearts are not made to be torn in halves''_

-'... 'cause it's going to kill him.'

… … … … … … … …

'This thing's just totally lame.'

'Agreed.'

'Yeah!!'

'...well I like..'

'You gonna be a part of it anyway? ... Hey! Snap out of it, you wimp!'

Seifer's arrogant tone shook Mary out of her reverie. Sitting on their usual benches in the Sandlot, Twilight Town's self proclaimed Disciplinary Committee was enjoying the two last days of Spring Break under the warming sun.

-'Hmm?!' made the brown haired girl, pushing one of her two silver hair strand out of her sight, darting her deep brown eyes on her friend.

The blonde rolled his blue-green eyes.

-'Tomorrow's stupid skateboarding competition everyone's talking about', he said in an exasperate voice.' You gonna be part of it?' he asked once more.

The girl played with the skateboard under her feet.

-'Sure', replied the skateboarder with assurance, ignoring Rai's indignant gasp. 'It's not 'cause YOU are no good at it that it's lame', she concluded, frowning as usual.

The older boy stared at her for a moment, then simply laughed. She definitely was the only one who could ever stand up to Seifer without getting her ass kicked in the second. She often thought that it even was the reason why the scarred boy had let her in the group, Rai approving whatever he would say, Fuu agreeing silently or simply not caring and Vivi not giving an opposition strong enough to be worth it.

-'More 'cause the champ's a wuss', declared the young man, shrugging then pointing the said champion at the other side of the Sandlot, the place splitted in half by the skateboarding ramps that had been pulled up for tomorrow's tournament.

-'Zell's hot', affirmed Mary as she got up and picked her skate.

-'Agreed', added Fuu, to the rest of the group's surprise. The other girl grinned. Girls usually annoyed her, with their girly ways and all their babbling, but the white haired young woman was different, and the two of them were as best friends as their respective attitudes could make them.

-'Not you too Fuu?!?! said Rai, desperate, hands on both sides of his head, taking a laugh out of Vivi. 'The whole town as the hots for him, ya know?'

Seifer smirked.

-'His witch chick's hotter thought', he declared his smile widening as all his posse stood still in shock. If the whole town was in awe in front of the skateboard champion, they also agreed that the weird girl that was always with him was bad news. Rumours were that the raven haired girl would be a sorceress or something, and that was enough to have the whole town hating her.

-'... Y-yeah sure, ya know', finally said Raijin on an uncertain tone. The leader of the group laughed at his docile friend, then stole Vivi skateboard and stood up.

-'Need me to show you how it's done?' he asked Mary with an arrogant grin.

... … … … … … … …

_Hell. Crap. Damn._

Things were definitely growing out of hand, Cid thought as he took a long puff out of his cigarette. He had stopped smoking long ago, after that old wicked wizard threatened him to make him think he was a 7 years old girl for the rest of his life, but the situation was just too freaking out of control. The man was leaning on the back wall of the house, enjoying the long missed feeling of the smoke filling up his lungs, 'cause there was nothing else to enjoy. Even the sun, who was shining brightly in the spring sky seemed unpleasant and mocking to him, the mechanic disliking the irony of a beautiful sunny day when one of them was dying somewhere just behind this wall.

Everything was going wrong, and now he was stuck in this. Never should've let the old loon have his way. He was trapped in that magic fool's secrets now. Never should've sworn it on Shera's soul. Now he had to play the damn dumb, pretend he knew nothing of this crap.

He had the feeling it might had something to do with it, but it could've been something else for what he knew about magic. But he heard Sora's redhead friend, through the half-closed door. It was the memories, it was that fucking old freak's magic. And he kept pretending he couldn't help. _Damn._

Cid took once last puff, then threw the cigarette away. Sending the three kids to Yen Sid was just a distraction of some kind. The magician could end this right now, if he'd want it.

Hell, he wasn't going to lose the kid ten years ago, and there was no way he'd lose him now either.

He simply wished Shera's soul would understand, and that the spirits of the dead were still able to forgive.

…… … … … … … … …

-'So... you gonna come to see me tomorrow, right?' asked Zell between two tricks.

His raven haired friend looked away, uneasy, the pendants hanging from the sticks that held up her hair tinkling musically.

-'You know I'd love to...' she begun, a bit of sadness in her tone. 'But Yen Sid's been more and more strict these days, and I have those spells I need to review...'

The blonde did nothing to hide his disappointment.

-'Awwwwwwwwww... C'mon Angela! I mean, tomorrow's the tournament!! You can't go and miss that!!' the skate champion almost shouted, hands moving from side to side to express his deception. 'Please!!! You gotta be there!!!'

-'Fine! I'll try to at least come to say hi', the blue garbed young woman gave in, with a smile.

-'Boooya!!!' screamed the face-tattooed young man with enthusiasm causing his friend to smile kindly.

-'Alright', giggled the young sorceress. 'Now I really have to go', she pleaded.

The sun was setting on Twilight Town, irradiating the city with a pinky-orange glow that made the whole place look sublime.

-'Want me to walk you to the Station? 'said Zell looking a little down.

-'It's no use', declined Angela softly. She knew he'd be more happy skateboarding anyway .'And, besides, I think there's people wanting to see you', she noted, pointing a group of kids who were staring at the skater boy in awe. Some of them were startled when they saw the young witch extending her finger toward them, but she chose to ignore them.

She was more than just used to it anyway.

-' 'kay. See you tomorrow then', said the blonde with a wide smile as the both of them started to walk away, him towards the center of the Sandlot and her in direction of the Station.

-'Sure thing', she promised with a smile. 'Oh! And late Happy birthday again!' she added, her smile widening.

The young champion chuckled.

-'Yeah you too!!' he answered before turning his back and rolling to the pack of fan that were waiting for him.

The raven-haired girl giggled.

They weren't exactly born the same day, it was just that none of them remembered when it was. Both of them found it rather funny, their birthdates placed on the day they were found, ten years ago, laying unconscious under the rain, their clothes ripped and their skins scratched and bruised, but their story wasn't all that pleasant. Neither of the kids could remember how or why they got to Twilight Town, where the came from or what happened. The girl's memory was as blank as a white page, and the boy could only recall his name.

Still, it seemed to the young woman that they made the best out of it. Zell luckily found a family willing to adopt a fourteen years old boy, and the mage Yen Sid, who also happened to be the one who found them, allowed the girl to come and study in his tower, sensing her great magic potential.

The old wizard was also the one who proposed her name, from the two angel wings she had tattooed on her back. She loved it as soon as she heard it.

Yes, she thought as she strolled down the sunset coloured streets, the two of them made it out just fine. Zell was the town's skateboard superstar, and well, it's true she wasn't really appreciated in town, but she was still happy about her life. Yen Sid was a demanding teacher, but she loved the old man and the three good fairies she lived with everyday.

Angela smiled to herself, enjoying the warmth of the setting sun on her face, earning herself glances from the couple across the street. She only wished people would stop treating her like some kind of monster.

_'Keep dreaming girl'_, she thought sadly. No matter how nice and kind she was, people still avoided her like the plague.

She stopped to let a brown haired skater girl pass in front of her, she continued towards the Station.

_'Too bad for them'_ she added to herself.

… … … … … … … …

She was late.

Mary rolled down the streets in hurry, the constant sound of the turning wheels of her skateboard on the ground warning people of her arrival.

She was 45 minutes late, to be precise. Supper would be cold, and she would get scolded.

She swiftly passed in front of the witch-girl, who stopped to let her pass. No time for disgusted looks.

_Stupid Hayner_. At least she'd shown him he was no match for tomorrow. That was, if she still could partake in the skateboard competition. Cid and Edea were great adoptive parents, but they were rather strict, and they would be mad that she was about an hour late without even calling.

The brown haired girl turned left in an unfrequented alleyway that also happened to be an excellent shortcut for times like these. She slalomed among the garbage cans and the cardboard boxes that laid on each side of the alley while trying to keep her speed, which was not a good idea. The teenager scraped one of the waste bins, making her lose her balance. She leaned form one side to another, trying not to fall off the still fast moving skateboard, but it was useless. The skate swept itself from under her feet, and she would have fallen hardly on the ground if a strong arm wouldn't have been there to catch her.

Getting her feet back on the ground, the girl turned to face the man, whose grip she had already recognised.

It was him, this constant aura of fearful power irradiating from him, a strong and ever-present smell of pure darkness surrounding him like the richest of perfumes.

She had this ability, being able to sense darkness when it was strong enough, along with other strengths still hidden behind the mysterious doors of her origins, doors she pretended not to be interested in when they were simply too terrifying to open.

But him, he knew, he knew what secrets laid in the depths of her heart, beyond the fog of her origins. He was the beginning of everything, her beginning, and held the key to the doors within her, his god-like might granting him all the powers.

If she stuck around long enough, she might be able to have him unlock these gates for her, or, at least, borrow some of his force to open them herself.

He was there, right in front of her, forcing her admiration and awe as if every time was the first time, even though he had always been there, not far behind her, perpetually lurking in her shadow.

Her guardian angel, her dark protector, of whom she knew nothing but his suffocating scent of immaculate darkness and his exquisite strength.

Her One-winged angel, as grand and dark as the force he possessed.

-'Thanks', she simply said, pretending not to be as surprised or impressed as she really was.

He stared at her for a moment, as if he was judging her, and, for a moment, the skater girl feared that he would reprimand her for not being home at this hour.

-'I have something for you' he declared after what seemed like an eternity for the teenager.

Her angel wasn't like that. Leave it to Cid and Edea to admonish her.

-'Really? 'she answered, trying to look indifferent. 'How come? 'she asked her arms as she shifted her weight on one leg.

-'Time has come', he replied, but she wanted a more complete answer.

-'Time for what?' she pushed with a strong desire to understand the man's infinite secrets.

-'For me to become stronger' he finally said, grabbing her right hand as he did.' And for you, to serve your purpose', he concluded with a deep tone that made Mary shiver.

And before she even have the time to wonder what the silver haired man could mean, thick thorns of darkness emerged from his hand, and started to climb up her arm, leaving deep cuts in which the prickles of shadows inserted themselves into her body, causing her to fall to her knees, screaming in pain. For what seemed like forever, the girl could feel the sterns of darkness forming roots in her body, tightening their grip on her heart until she was about to break.

Then, when the suffering became unbearable, it suddenly stopped, leaving the brown-haired girl gasping for air, clutching her tortured arm.

She looked up, ready to yell at the man for causing her so much pain, but there was no one. She was alone, on her knees in a small back alley of Twilight Town, her skateboard stuck inside a box a couple of feet ahead, all signs of the torture her arm suffered gone.

The skater-girl got up, still confused, unsure if what happened wasn't just a dream.

She was more than an hour late. She was going to be grounded for weeks.

* * *

Well, that's it! Questions, comments, suggestions? Please review!!!!!!!!

Emy

Looking for a beta!!!!


	2. Chapt 1The Last Day Of Spring Breakpt1

Author's note: Woohoo!!! Update!

There's skateboarding in this chapter, and as you will notice, I don't know anything about it, so don't expect too much... :P. And if you want to listen to the song I had in mind for the skate competition, go get yourself _Pacific Ocean Blue_ from _A_ on the album _Hi-Fi Serious_. Quite a cachy song, and I can just picture them rolling down the ramps with such a music. Sorry if you think the chapter lack a bit of action, I intended to make it longer, but that would have made the next chapter real short. But don't worry, things are going to get tricky soon enough. Okay, I'm done rambling.

And all my thanks to SimpleNClean92, who kindly accepted to be my beta!!!

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

**The Last Day of Spring Break**

_(Part 1)_

'beep'

'thud'

'beep' 'beep'

'thud'

'beep' 'beep' 'beep'

_''Shut up stupid thing''_

The teenager extended her hand, her eyelids still firmly closed; blindly trying to end the bothersome beeping that brought her out of her peaceful sleep. She hit the alarm clock, but missed the snooze button, sending the noisy device to the floor, just out of her reach. She tried to ignore the more than annoying sound, but it was no use. She'd have to get up and to shut it up for good, then she could go back to sleep.

_''Why is this thing on anyway?''_

Mary lazily pushed her sheets aside, and putted one foot out of her bed, then the other. School only started tomorrow, she figured out, her thoughts still hazy. Today was...

Her eyes opened wide, her body fully awake now.

'' The Skateboard Competition!!''

She got up as if her bed was made of needles, and hurried out of her black and white pyjamas and into her baggy deep grey-green capris and her white tank top, buckling her golden-studded belt as she slipped into her skate shoes. She garbed herself with her two wristbands, then took a quick look in the mirror. Her shoulder-length, straight brown hair was bit messy, the two silver strands in it seeming more discreet than usual, but it would have to do. She'd wear an helmet anyway.

The girl grabbed her skateboard and jumped on the ledge of her window.

_''They'll be mad when they'll find out''_, she thought with no regrets as she opened the window.

She was grounded for a week, but there was no way she would miss today's tournament, even if she'd have to get punished for another week.

- - - - -

-'There', said Fuu, pointing at her friend who was rolling down the hill that led into the Sandlot.

-'Told ya she would be here' replied Seifer with a smirk.

-'We were afraid you'd be grounded, ya know?' declared Rai to Mary when she stopped in front of the posse.

The brown-haired teenager remained quiet, grabbing Vivi's still intact apple a second before he took a bite in it.

-'You're not grounded, are you?' asked the small mage, with his fragile and high perched voice.

-'...If they think it's gonna keep me from competing, they're out of it', the skater grunted, taking a mouthful of that delicious apple.

Their blonde leader laughed.

-'That's my girl!' he added with an approving tone, earning himself a grimace from the said girl.

-'Are the two of you feeling up for it, ya know? 'demanded Rai to his friends.

-'Hey! I'm part of it too!', protested Vivi, only to be ignored and interrupted by the scared young man.

-' Those wusses don't stand a chance' said Seifer as he passed an arm around Mary's shoulders, a confident grin lighting his features.

- - - - - -

-'Arrgh! What's taking it so long?' complained Sora impatiently, walking in circles in Twilight Town's orange colored train Station, waiting for the purple train that would take them to Yen Sid's.

-'Calm down', demanded Riku calmly, leaning on the wall near platform number 3. 'It's bound to show up', he added to his precipitate friend.

-'You sure we couldn't just have missed it?' asked a nervous Kairi to the brunette.

The boy stood still for a moment, thinking.

-'Well, it's always been there anytime I wanted to get to the tower', he declared, scratching the back of his head, unsure. 'So I guess it must be magical or something', supposed the keyblade master, shrugging.

-'Eum... Excuse me...'

The eyes of the trio flew on the possessor of the soft and sweet voice, a blue garbed young woman wearing her raven hair held up with three delicate sticks ornamented with pendants. She seemed kind, gentle and... uneasy, playing with the silver ring hung on her necklace, avoiding to look at them in the eyes, as if they would be likely to scream at her anytime now.

-'... Are you waiting for the train?' she asked, almost too politely.

The three teenagers exchanged a quick glance. She had to be in her mid-twenties. Then why did it felt like she was apologizing in every word she said?

-'...Yes', Kairi answered, the woman's attitude making her uncomfortable.

-'The purple one?' the raven haired young woman insisted.

Sora and Riku looked at each other swiftly. She was odd.

-'Yes', the silver haired boy confirmed, shifting his weight off the wall to face the strange girl.

-'...You headed for the beach?' she demanded, her discomfort gaining the trio, who started to feel rather awkward.

-'Nope. Yen Sid's place', declared the keyblade's chosen one, not expecting the impact his words would have.

All the stress the young woman held disappeared with the shock of the surprise.

-'You... know him?'

-'Yeah...'said the brunette with incomprehension.

Then, the blue garbed girl started to chuckle, dissipating all the awkwardness present a few seconds ago with the soft ring of her laugh.

-'What's so funny?' asked the older boy with a smirk.

-'Nothing! ' she protested, waving a hand in front of her, gaining control of her laughter. ' It's just that... I would never have thought that you could...' she started to explain, obviously more at ease. Noticing the boy's frown, she got a little more serious. 'Anyway... I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm afraid you've missed the train...'

-'W-what!?!' bursted Sora, dumbstruck, as the girl apologized again.

-' And when is the next one?' asked Kairi after a look at her two friends.

-'Only much later this afternoon', answered the woman.

-'Arghhhh... Talk about bad luck', complained the keyblade master with a disappointed look on his face.

The three friends gathered.

-'So what do we do now?' demanded Riku, folding his arms.

-'We could always wait here 'til it shows up...' proposed the red-haired girl softly, but the grimace on her brown haired friend's face told her what it thought of the idea. 'Well it's better than getting lost in town and missing another train!' protested the princess of heart.

-'...Or there's this skateboarding competition down in the Sandlot you could go see', suggested the raven haired young woman. 'I'm going too, and I could warn you before the train leaves...' she added kindly.

Sora looked imploringly at his two friends. They all knew he badly wanted to partake in the tournament, or at least see it, but they had more urgent matters to take care of. Or used to, before they missed the train.

-'Sure, why not?' said Riku, supported by Kairi's nod.

-'Yeah!' the keyblade wielder jumped in joy, making the others giggle. 'Thanks for your help', he added to the young woman dressed in blue. 'I'm Sora. This is Riku, and Kairi.'

-'So you are the famous keyblade master! I've heard a great deal about you, guy', she declared with a wide grin, making the said boy smile shyly. 'Pleased to meet you! I'm Angela', she continued. 'Now let's hurry to the Sandlot! There might still be time for you to sign in for the competition, if you are interested', she concluded, turning around to exit the Station, allowing the trio to stare at the two white angel wings printed on the back of her light blue jumper.

Riku cocked an eyebrow as his two friends hurried after the woman. He had seen wings like these before.

_''But where?''_

Deciding he had no time to wonder about it now, he jogged to catch up with his friends who were chatting with Angela.

'' _Skateboard competition. That would be great.''_

_- - - - - _

The whole thing was in the bag, Mary thought as she observed the participants of Twilight Town's fifth annual skateboard championship, rolling on and around the ramps, waiting for the event to begin.

Zell would be the only one who'd put up a challenge.

_''And maybe Seifer''_, she added to herself, smiling a little when she imagined her friend's reaction if he ever knew she considered him as a beatable opponent.

The others, thought, would be easy cheese. Vivi was lucky if he could stay on his board, and even though Hayner knew a few tricks, it was nothing compared to what she could do. As for that Vaan guy well, she'd never seen him around, but she was confident she'd be better.

She rolled around, jumped as she kicked her board, making it flip beneath her, and landed back on it in a long-practiced motion. _''Piece of cake''_, she thought as she took on foot off the skateboard and back on the ground. Mary closed her eyes for a moment, lifting her head towards the sky, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her face and inhaling the fresh air of spring.

Then she smelled it. Darkness.

Thick and strong, not like Fuu, Rai and Seifer's evanescent vapours. Deep darkness, much like His, yet different. It was held back, restrained, as if its owner wanted to hide it, lock it away forever and forget it.

_''Who would want to keep away such power?''_

The girl took another deep sniff, trying to figure out whose dark side she could smell so clearly.

Vivi's?

No, not this strong. The little mage was fragile, delicate. Weak most of the time. Never strong. Not Vivi's.

Then who?

Vaan? Hayner??

These blondes were as dark as she was the stereotype princess.

Him???

No. Her guardian would never show up like this, in the middle of a crowded Sandlot.

The brown haired skateboarder looked around, attempting to find the owner of this darkness. She smelled once more with one deep breath.

Behind her.

She spun around to meet with long silver hair and greenish-aqua eyes just a few meters away.

A tall and muscular teenager, walking towards the inscription booth with a brown haired boy. He wore his purplish-blue pants low on his hips, his shirt and his vest were sleeveless, revealing the defined muscles of his arms, walking with some kind of an attitude she didn't disliked.

_''He looks like Him''._

_- - - - - -_

Sora walked down the Sandlot, trying to control his enthusiasm towards the competition. He was sad that they couldn't get to Yen Sid as quick as they would have wanted, worried that Leon would have to hang on a little longer, but they couldn't do anything but wait, and well, why not have a little fun while waiting? And, as it seemed by the look of it, the tournament would be great. Of course, Riku and him would clean up.

-' Think we have a chance of winning??' the brunette asked his best friend in an hopeful tone.

-'Who knows?' the silver haired teen shrugged, but the smirk on his face gave it away. He wanted to win, just as much as the keyblade master. The blue eyed boy grinned widely, and they smacked their wrists together in a friendly move.

As he smiled at his companion, Sora noticed one of the participants, a brown and silver haired girl, staring intensely at Riku.

-'Looks like you got a fan already,' said the keyblade's chosen one, elbowing his friend, a smirk lighting his features.

-'...What?' muttered the teenager turning around to see the girl, who kept gazing at him. The silver haired young man looked away, blushing slightly as Sora laughed. 'Can it!' he added, granting his friend a small punch on the shoulder.

- - - - -

'You're drooling all over yourself'

Mary blinked, then rushed to wipe some inexistent saliva off her chin, a bit confused.

She had been staring.

_''Like a psycho fanatic.''_

Even worse, he noticed. And so did Seifer, whose arrogant laughter rang clearly in her ears.

The annoyed teen turned to face her friend, an angry frown on her features, which only made him laugh some more.

-'Didn't know that was your type', he added with a malicious grin.

-'...Wanna know your weight without your teeth?!' she asked, madly wanting to swipe that arrogant smirk off his scarred face.

The treat didn't affect the young man, who simply waved as he walked away, still making fun of the girl.

_''At least he knows when to quit.''_

He couldn't understand. She wasn't psycho. He looked like Him. She had been a bit... shaken, that's all. He wasn't Him. Not even close, after a second look. That guy smiled. Her guardian never did. There was darkness in every heart, his was just a bit stronger than usual. Nothing more.

Or, at least, that's what she was trying to convince herself of, some part of her knowing that so much darkness wasn't normal, and that Seifer wasn't completely off the track. She did like the silver hair and aqua eyes.

She shook her head, clearing her mind.

_''Focus, girl''_, she told herself as she putted her helmet on.

- - - - -

She still had to win this tournament.

-'Let's go sit over there', said Kairi as she pointed one of the groups of benches placed in the Sandlot for the occasion, already walking towards them.

Angela hesitated before following the girl, half-heartedly. There were people on the benches already. Not that it bothered her, but SHE bothered them. She could just hope they wouldn't be mean to Kairi.

As soon as the raven-haired woman rejoined her raspberry-haired friend, the few spectators who were already seated got up and went toward another pack of benches, throwing the sorceress mean glances, granting the princess frightened looks and whispering to themselves.

-'...What was that?' asked the soft red-head, turning to her companion, bewildered.

The blue garbed woman sat down and gave the girl a sorry smile.

-'...Well...', she begun, uncertain about how to explain the situation. Then she told her everything.

All there was to say about the way things were for her. People avoided her, and those who didn't only got near her to blame her for things she'd never done or simply to yell at her. She was scaring them.

-'But... why?!?' exclaimed Kairi, who just couldn't understand why people would be afraid of such a soft and nice young woman.

-'...I'm a sorceress...' Angela shrugged, looking down.

-'That's no reason!' the red-head protested angrily, before a deep sadness that was more than just her own took over, plunging her into a moment of silence. 'It's not fair...' she added, downhearted.

_'' Things for people like us rarely are...''_

_''... Did people... treated you that way too?''_

_'' No... she's being rejected... I... have been... used more than anything...''_

-'...wonder what's worst...' the princess of heart muttered to herself after an instant. Being alone and feeling lonely were more than just unpleasant situations, she knew it from experience. And still, she had Selphie, Tidus and Wakka. Suddenly, she felt full of compassion for the raven-haired young woman, and decided that it was one of those moments when you had to do the best you can to fix an unfair thing in life.

Kairi granted Angela a smile she hoped would be a bit as contagious as Sora's smiles were. The woman smiled back.

Then a creaking sound came out of the speakers placed around the Sandlot as the organiser of the tournament grabbed the mike.

-'It begins!' said the red-haired girl, full of enthusiasm, ready to cheer for her best friends.

- - - - -

Aerith brushed a lock of brown hair off Leon's forehead, the man's bangs, damp with cold sweat, sticking on his heavily frowned features.

He was asleep now, to slow down the literally heartbreaking progression that was going on inside him and to lighten his suffering, at least a little. But it seemed to the young woman it wasn't helping much. His breath was shallow, his body still stiffened in pain, hands grasping the sheets as he grumbled bits and pieces of words no one could understand.

The flower girl got up from the chair placed next to Squall's bed.

She wasn't a specialist of the heart, but the way things were going, Aerith didn't think he would hold on much longer. She lowered her head, trying to hold back the tears that were coming to her eyes, thanking heaven no one could see her cry. She had to be strong, now more than ever. Leon was sick, and, as hard as it was to admit, they couldn't count on Cloud, nor on Cid. The mechanic wasn't responsible enough, and Cloud well... he would not even want to try. This saddened her, because she was convinced that he could be an excellent leader, if he'd want it to. He just... never seemed to attach himself to anything, except to his anger and his misery.

_''Not even to me...''_

The brunette tried to suppress a deep sob, without much success. Now was not the time for this. She had to push these thoughts away. Her heart matters were nothing compared to Leon's, she thought, not without irony. His moaning brought her back to reality.

-'...Sis... ', he muttered, along with other things she could made out clearly.

Aerith smiled sadly. It had been years since he had called her that. Her parents had adopted him long ago, back when they were both child, and for long had he called her 'Sis', before growing out of it. She softly grabbed his hand, allowing the clutching fist to share a bit of his suffering with her, her remaining hand swiping her tears. She had to be strong.

_''Hang in there, little brother...''_

_- - - - - _

Lively punk-rock music and roaring cheers were filling the warm air of Twilight town as the skateboards were rolling and spinning in every corner of the Sandlot. The atmosphere was electric, sea-salt ice cream bars in every hand, the whole town celebrating one last time before the end of the Spring break.

And Angela had to admit the Skateboarding tournament had never been this fun. She'd make up for the lack of study tomorrow, she told herself as she whistled to cheer for Sora, who had just an amazing trick she knew Zell had told her the name before but couldn't remember. Yen Sid would understand. At least, she hoped he would.

She didn't knew all that much about skateboarding, but she did knew that Zell was doing great, her best friend putting up to his champion title, pulling awesome tricks in time with the rhythmic music to the pleasure of the crowd and the judges. Riku and Sora were just as good, the jet-black haired woman decided, the two young men skilfully rolling down the ramps, exchanging boards every once in a while to impress the gallery, who responded with enthusiasm. The brown haired girl had talent too, she acknowledged. She was better than most of the participants, and she always boasted to the crowd after any difficult move, acting as if she already was the new champion, making her one of the tournament's favourites.

It seemed to Angela that the afternoon simply flew away, taken by the mirth of a perfect day spent eating delicious ice cream, laughing with a brand new friend and cheering in a wild crowd.

But too soon the clock tower on the top of the Station rang four o'clock and the judges called the participants off the ramps, ready to name the 3 finalists who would challenge Zell for the champion title.

The raven haired sorceress got up and looked at Kairi.

-' After that we'll have to go. The train will be there soon', she said to younger girl who nodded as she got up.

The two of them stared at the judges' booth, to see Sora jumping in joy and hitting Riku's shoulder with a small punch, the older boy grinning widely.

-'We did it Kai!!! We're in the finals!!' the young keyblade master shouted to his friend as the two young men made their way toward them.

The raspberry haired girl hugged them both and granted them a kiss on the cheek as she congratulated them.

-' We'll be going though', she added, sorry to be the one to bring them off their clouds,' Angela says the train will be there soon'.

Riku nodded, and Sora's smile shortened just a little.

-'It's alright', he said. 'They gave us an hour before the finals, so we might have time to go see Yen Sid and come back to win', he concluded, hopeful.

-' And I won't be giving you any chances this time', declared the silver haired teen as the group departed for the Station, causing everyone to laugh heartily.

As they left the Sandlot, Angela caught a glimpse of Zell, staring at them with a wide smile. She waved at him, and gave him two thumbs up. He answered by doing a perfectly executed back salto, then pointed his thumb toward him, causing the girl to giggle before he got out of sight. He had lots of fans in awe to take care of anyway. And she had to take care of her new friends, she thought with a smile.

- - - - -

Mary walked away from the judges' booth with a wide grin. She was in the finals, even though it hadn't been as easy as she thought it would have been. Not that she doubted she would make it. She had trained herself so long for this moment. No way would she choke because some unexpected guys with a bit of talent showed up.

_''This year is my year. The tournament's mine.''_

The brown haired girl walked to her friends, gathered around a rather angry Seifer.

-' I still think you were the best, ya know? Those guys just don't know how to recognize how good you are, ya know?' blabbered Raijin, desperately trying to calm his friend down as the said friend threw his helmet as far as he could and kicked his skateboard away.

-'This thing's just freaking lame anyway', said the tall blonde as he sat on a bench, starting to cool down.

-' Funny how the stuff you're no good at always ends up being lame or stupid', Mary provoked him with a smirk while taking her helmet off.

-'Congratulations', complimented Fuu to her female friend with simple honesty, Vivi agreeing with the silver haired teen.

The posse's leader got up, his angry look back on his features, and stood right in front of the brown haired skateboarder, granting her a rather deadly look.

For a moment, Mary thought she might have gone too far in teasing the older teen. He was a nice guy and a good friend, but had quite a temper and no one who knew him wanted to get on his bad side. She still stood her ground and stared at him straight in the eyes as everyone held their breaths. It was the only thing she could do anyway, there was no turning back now. The instant stretched, and the skater girl almost wished he would hit her just so this tense moment would come to an end.

Then, Seifer's mouth up curved a little, and the mad glimmer in his eyes dimmed.

-' I always said it sucked', he declared before sitting back on the bench, pretending not to notice his friends letting go of that breath they held in so long. The muscular blonde took a look at all his friends and smirked as he posed his eyes on the brown haired girl. '...Maybe that's why you're so good at it', he added, folding his arms while Mary stuck out her tongue, granting him a friendly grimace.

He didn't hit her, even though she might had deserved it, she had a Sieferish compliment and was going to win the skateboard championship today.

_''Best day of my life''_, she thought.

The blonde leader got up from his bench and stretched.

-'Let's get ourselves some ice-cream' he declared, passing his arm around his two female friends' shoulders.' You'll need to be in top shape if you wanna beat the chicken-wuss'.

- - - - -

-'... I see...', affirmed the great wizard Yen Sid, chin in hand, as he finished reading the letter written by an old friend, and delivered by the young keyblade master.

He had been at bit shocked and angry when he saw that Angela had brought people at the tower, but it had quickly faded when he had realized who his visitors were. Without a word, he had allowed them in his office and had demanded the letter they carried, to the teens' surprise. No one could hide anything from him, he had answered them. Sora had simply shrugged and handed the letter. When the young brunette had opened his mouth to speak, the old sage only lifted his hand, making the lad silent.

The letter couldn't have been any clearer.

_Old friend,_

_As feared, your predictions became true. Now is the time for us to act for the best, as we did ten years ago. It is my opinion that we should undo the lock, and bring the lost ones home. Still, I will rely on your judgement, for I thrust your wisdom._

_May the light guide us._

_Sincerely,_

_A loony old wizard._

_P-S: As for your one-winged problem, perhaps you could ask the young keyblade bearers. With the help of your pupil, I'm sure they could bring our strayed black sheep home._

_P-P-S: And thank you for the advice. This jasmine tea was delicious._

_''So the time has come''_, Yen Sid thought silently. He would have to send back the student he had learned to love, her soft and sweet smile managing to bring back sparks of joy the old man thought he would never feel again. She was easily distracted from her studies by frivolous matters, yet she was so curious and eager to learn that he had never been able to hold it against her. It would hurt to let her go, he realized as the four young ones stood in front of him, silently waiting for him to say something. She had been like a daughter to him. But he knew she wasn't really happy here. He had seen the sad glitter in her eyes when she looked away, though the window and far beyond, when she was supposed to study. The old sage came to the conclusion that deep down, some part of her knew there was something else, something more to her own life, and longed for it.

His angel was eager to fly with her own wings, and was ready for it. All he'd have to do was to let her go.

But before all that, there was something Yen Sid needed the group to take care of.

Sephiroth.

The dark angel had been sighted every once in a while around Twilight Town, without any news of trouble, despite his sombre reputation, but Angela had reported that she saw him talking to a teen a couple of times lately, leaving black feathers on his path. It was time for the one-winged angel to go back where he belonged, before anything bad happened.

-'... so... err... Are you going to help us, sir?' asked Sora, breaking the silence, and taking the elder out of his reflexion.

-'... Yes', declared the wizard solemnly after a moment, joining hands on his desk. The pack of teenagers smiled widely and relief was readable on their faces. 'But...', the man added, raising a finger,' I will need you to help me first', he declared. 'Don't worry, you will be back in time to help your friend', he pursued, seeing how the kids seemed uneasy about the delay.

-'...Guess it's alright then', concluded the brunette after consulting his friends with a look.

-'So... what do you want us to do?' Riku asked, folding his arms on his chest.

-'Are you familiar with any Sephiroth?' the blue garbed sage responded calmly, causing the keyblade's chosen one's sky blue eyes to widen in surprise, and making Angela gasp in apprehension. 'By the look on your face, I'd say you do. Well, he has been seen haunting the streets of Twilight Town lately, and even though he hasn't done anything reprehensive up to now, we would like to make sure he won't be tempted to do any. So, I would like you to convince him to leave this world, and never come back if that would be possible', said Yen Sid, collected.

_''Seems rather calm for a man who just asked us to take on Sephiroth''_, Riku thought. From what he heard of Sora, that guy was not the kind you'd want to mess with. Actually, the teen remembered, his friend said Xemnas was a piece of cake compared to Cloud's darkness. But the brunette was alone back then. This time, they were three. They could take him. At least, that's what the silver haired boy hoped. Still, he could feel his friends stiffen with apprehension, and even though Sora nodded to Yen Sid with confidence, he knew it wouldn't be all that easy.

-'..But Master... won't it be dangerous?' Angela protested with concern. She had seen the man, and even though she did not have the power to smell darkness, she couldn't miss nor ignore the terrifying aura that surrounded him. The silver haired man was evil, and very powerful, and it worried her that her beloved teacher would send her new friends to fight off such a destructive force.

-'...Probably', the wizard admitted, and the brown haired keyblader nodded to support the man, showing that he was aware of the danger, yet brave enough to face it.

Then, for an instant, the powerful magician that was Yen Sid stood silent in fear, knowing that his next phrase would send a loved daughter to face the world and her past, both filled with thrills, dangers, pains and joys.

_''Act for the best.''_

-'...That's why I want you to accompany them, to face Sephiroth, then on other worlds. If the young keyblade bearers don't mind that is', concluded the old man, leaving his apprentice frozen in disbelief.

Sora exchanged glances with his friends, then confirmed to the wizard it was alright before the young woman could say anything.

-'...B-But... Why?!... I...I don't understand', the sorceress finally managed to demand, still shocked and unsure about what was going on in this moment. A glimpse of hurt could be seen in her eyes, as thought she feared she was being dismissed for being a bad student, or and unworthy daughter.

-'First of all, because, as you said it yourself, Sephiroth is dangerous, and the keyblade bearers could use all the help they can get. Second, because I have nothing left to teach you, and you are ready to face anything that will come to you', Yen Sid enumerated coldly, though he could feel a great sadness growing inside him.' Then finally, because it is time for you to go back home', he concluded, more softly this time.

-'Home..? But this is my home', the raven haired young woman protested, taking a step forward.

The great wizard shook his head, making the blue garbed sorceress feel despaired, sad and terribly lonely. She stood still, staring at the floor as she held back her tears, while the old man got up and placed himself right in front of his apprentice, placing his hands on her arms in an heart warming and fatherly move that brought tears to Kairi's eyes. The young princess stretched her arm and grabbed Sora's hand, feeling comforted when he pressed his palm against hers.

-'No...', the old man begun softly. 'You know this as well as I do... You weren't born in this world, and now's the time for you to find were you belong'.

-'...but I like it here...', Angela tried to argue once more in an unconvincing tone, knowing too well she had been dreaming of more until the very moment what she wished had been offered before her.

-'I know you long for more, little angel', the wizard said while grabbing the young woman's chin and gently wiping tear off her cheeks. 'Now's the time for you to fly'.

The sorceress plunged her gaze into her teacher's eyes, and smiled a little, softly yet sadly, a part of her knowing it wasn't easy for him either, and thanking him for the gift he was making her. Then she nodded slowly and couldn't hold herself any longer to hug him, the man who had been like a father to her for the past ten years, tears of mixed joy and sadness gently flowing down her face.

-'Now, now... no need to be sad...', the old man said kindly with a small smile. 'This place will always be here, and so will I', he declared, taking a step back from his former apprentice has she let go of him. She nodded, then composed herself a little, swiping her tears away while smiling softly.

-'Where will I have to go?' Angela asked, the perspective of adventure bringing up her usual enthusiasm.

-'I could tell you, but it's better if you find out by yourself', Yen Sid assured her, making the young woman grimace in annoyance. Then a scroll of parchment magically appeared in his hand. 'I want you to give this to Merlin, in Radiant Garden', he demanded as he handed the paper to his ex-pupil. 'He will know what to do', the sage affirmed to his trio of visitors.

Then, the room remained silent an instant, before Sora, Riku and Kairi saluted to old wizard, ready to take their leave.

-'One more thing', the man added as the group began to make their way toward the exit. 'I believe a friend of yours will have to accompany you on your travels, Angela', he said to the young woman, whose smile widened in joy. 'This kid had been stealing this town's title of skateboard champion long enough', the old man concluded with a smile, seeing how his declaration made his angel jump in mirth as she nodded and continued to leave the office.

-'Oh! Yeah! The skateboard tournament! It's starting soon isn't it?!' Sora's voice asked with excitement, slowly fading away as the group made their way down the stairs.

-'Don't worry, we'll make it there in time', Angela affirmed kindly before it when out off the elder's earshot.

_''Farewell, my daughter. May the light guide you, little angel.''_

* * *

So...? Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Don't forget to review!

I'll be back with the next chapter, where our favourite one-winged angel is gonna cause quite a stir...

Emy


	3. Chapt 2 The Last Day Of Spring Breakpt2

**Author note: **I'm back!!!! Sorry if it's been a while since the last update, school has been keeping me busy ; . So new chapter, longer than what i intended :P. Here's a selection of songs for those who want to listen to what I had in mind : ocean avenue - yellowcard for Sora, girlfriend-avril lavigne for Mary , diary of jane - breaking benjamin for Riku and Holding on- pillar for Zell.

If anything else I'd say yay for Advent Children-ish scenes :P ... and that the announcer probably knows Bobba and Jimma of FFX :P hehehe

Enjoy!

* * *

**Kingdom Hearts:**

**Waltz of memories**

Chapter 2

Last day of Spring Break (part 2)

He couldn't stand it anymore. Just sitting there, in Merlin's living room, staring at the ceiling, then the floor, up the walls and back to the ceiling again, his thoughts rolling around in his mind like his eyes were scanning the room over and over again.

They were tired, all of them, weary with worries and tense with fears that only grew over time, consuming their spirits until even Yuffie was down, silently playing cards with Merlin half-heartedly. Cid was outside, sulking and smoking his hundredth cigarette. The old wizard and he had argued about something not long ago, and the mechanic's attitude seemed clear to Cloud that he wasn't the one who won.

He badly wanted to leave this place, just to get out of this house, filled with so much grief that it seemed almost physical to the blonde soldier, pressing heavily on his chest. He wanted to hit something or someone, anything just to get rid of all this sadness that stuck on him, to fight it away with a couple of well placed sword hits and finally be free from its grasp.

He hated those situations where there was nothing but fear, kept at bay by the fading light of hope. He would rather fight fear and chase it away, or simply give up. He wasn't really the hoping kind of person. Fear frightened him way too much, and worry was a kind of fear he couldn't beat with a sword.

Leon was dying, the entire group was falling apart, and an annoying voice in his head kept repeating that he was the one to blame.

Tifa's footsteps coming down the stairs took Cloud's gaze away from the ceiling. She smiled to Merlin and Yuffie, and then walked straight towards the blonde, sitting next to him on the couch, wrapping her arms around her knees. She was the only one who still seemed to hold on, the soldier realized, admiring his childhood friend's strength.

"Aerith says he won't survive the night," the dark haired young woman declared in a calm and low voice without looking at the man.

He remained silent. It wasn't all that surprising, he thought with a detachment that made him sick. Hope really wasn't his thing. He had already given up on his closest friend. He was a jerk. His own attitude, or Tifa's words perhaps, made him want to throw up. He had to hit something.

_I__'ve stayed here way too long, _he thought.

Cloud got up, and started to walk towards the door that led out of the house.

"What are you doing? Where are you going?" the fighter asked him in a caring tone.

Those two questions again, over and over. _When would they come up with something else?_ He wondered, his mind popping with the answer he apprehended so much. When he would stop giving them the opportunity to ask? Another wave of sickness rushed in him.

He kept walking.

"I'm going to go check on Sephiroth…" he answered without even turning around.

"When will you stop trying to run away?!" the dark brown haired woman shouted to him as he laid his hand on the doorknob, her tone filled with straight frustration more than the despair he had expected.

She wasn't gently pleading him to stay, like Aerith always did. She was mad at him because he always left, never helping as much as he could.

"There's nothing I can do, I can't help anyone here…" he stated coldly, Tifa's hand on his shoulder making him turn around slowly. Her anger was gone as quickly as it had risen.

"Dilly-dally, shilly-shally," said the kind woman in a sing-song voice, "you could help Aerith," she affirmed confidently.

"… How could I do that?" Cloud asked, the word coming out painfully as the sickness dimmed a little. He desperately wanted to help her, to help them, so much it made him sick that he couldn't do anything. But, hearing his friend's proposal, he realised that he honestly wanted to help.

"Just stay with her. It will do her good," the female fighter declared kindly, encouraged by the man's attitude, happy that he finally wanted to try.

He seemed to hesitate, and for an instant, the woman feared he would turn his back and walk away from them once more.

"… And what about Sephiroth? Someone needs to make sure he won't…" the blonde man begun.

"Don't worry," cut in the dark haired young woman with a smile, "I'll go check on him. You take care of your girlfriend, Romeo," she cheerfully added with a wink as she started to make her way towards the exit.

The soldier rolled his eyes. His relationship with Aerith was rather tricky, mainly due to him, and he hated whenever anyone would bring up the fact that the two of them were more than close friends. "It's none of your business," he would always answer.

This time though, he walked to the stairs without bothering.

"Be careful," he recommended, but Tifa was already gone.

Not much later on, as Aerith was softly asleep, cuddled in his arms while he was keeping an eye on Leon, Cloud realized that the dark haired woman was right, as she was most of the time. It wasn't much, but he could help, even if it was just a little. It would have to do for now.

But he was aware that Squall needed much more.

_Hurry up Sora..._

- - - - -

"Here you are!" proclaimed the organizer of the Skateboard competition with relief as he saw Sora and Riku stroll down the path to the Sandlot with Kairi and Angela. "The second part of the tournament will begin! Hurry! Over here!", the man commanded to the teens, who started to rush towards him, asking their red haired friend to cheer for them.

"Good luck, both of you!!!" she declared, smiling softly. Then the two girls made their way to a bench, the sorceress not even wincing when a group of people stared and walked away.

_It will all be __over soon_, she thought with a smile. She would find her home, her real home, where no one would avoid her or treat her like a monster, where she could talk with everyone and feel accepted for what she was. She would find her place, somewhere she'd belong. No doubt she would.

_'And it'll be great!_

- - - - -

"Okay! So here's how it goes," the man said to the group of teenagers gathered in front of him, "each one of you will have three minutes on the ramps alone to show the judges what you're all made of. If they can't make up their minds after that, you'll all go back on the ramps together one last time, and they'll scratch you out until they find themselves a winner. Got it?"

The pack nodded silently.

"Alright! Spiky," he said, pointing to Sora, "you go first. Then it'll be the girl's turn. Silver-man," he pointed to Riku, "you'll be next and the Champ'll be the last one. Good luck kids!" concluded the organizer as he walked away, heading towards the judges' booth.

"That guy really has a problem with names," declared the blonde champion as he took his eyes off the man and turned to face his challengers, "I'm Zell," he introduced himself, even though they all knew his name. He was the champion after all.

"My name is Sora," Sora said.

"And I'm Riku," Riku finished.

"…"

The brown haired girl remained silent for a moment, all eyes fixed on her.

"I'm Mary."

"Pleased to meet y'all," said the blonde skater with a sincere smile, "and may the best skater win!" he added with a wink.

The boys answered with a competitive grin while Mary's eyes simply narrowed in determination.

"C'mon Spiky, show them what you've got!" said Riku as he placed Sora's helmet on his head. The brunette smiled back at his best friend, grabbed his skateboard and rolled towards the center of the Sandlot as the speakers started to creak with the voice of the announcer and a rhythmic bass intro.

"_Let's give them some skateboarding, keyblade master style!''_

An inner chuckle made the teen's smile widen some more.

_''Alright, __Spiky, I'm with you on this one.''_

- - - - -

Sometimes, when his friend stood between the sun and himself, and was in the right mood, Riku could swear he was seeing Roxas instead of Sora, like some kind of glitch, as if he was still stuck inside DiZ's computer. The teen even thought that the whole Nobodies thing might just be one of life's glitches, some malfunction that an upper intelligence would have failed to notice or correct.

If so, then the world must never have been more bugged than in those three minutes.

Sora didn't seemed quite himself as he rolled, twisted, turned, flipped on and off the ramps, flashes of blonde hair appearing through the helmet whenever the setting sun shone on the brunette's head. The silver-haired teenager could see the difference in each of his friends moves.

It looked like some kind of trance, the keyblade master becoming conscious and in control of his every move, the aura that surrounded him reminding Riku of this "final form" Sora could drive himself into, where he could fight with a simple thought, all his strength gathered and mastered, flowing in and around him, bending the world with the force of his will.

It felt the same to the silver-haired young man at the moment, though in a less powerful way. Sora and Roxas rolled as one and were one, in a more total and unified way than ever, giving the spectators quite the show.

"Your friend's good," said Zell to Riku, shoving him out of his thoughts with an euphemism that made the younger smile.

"Yeah..." the teen answered simply.

_B__ut he's cheating, _he thought with an annoyed smirk.

Well, he'd just have to do better. He wasn't ready to give up yet.

- - - - -

_Okay, that kid was good_, Seifer admitted mentally, _so what?_

He'd just have to make sure Mary would do better. They were a posse after all, and no way would he let an outsider or the chicken-wuss win this tournament. They had to win, and the blonde knew just the way.

The moment the brown haired kid finished his thing, the young man ran towards the D.J., ignoring the clapping and cheering crowd. Seifer'd make sure his friend was pissed off, because she always did better when she was mad.

"Congratulations!" the speakers creaked with the voice of the announcer, "well, that was quite a beginning, wouldn't you say folks?" The crowd loudly cheered as an answer, soundly burying the announcer for a moment. "Okay now, keep yourselves some voice, 'cause here's our next participant, the newest member of Twilight Town's disciplinary committee, the only girl of this tournament and quite the attitude problem, here she is people, give a warm welcome to Mary!"' the speakers roared, quickly answered by the crowd.

As the teen took a step towards the ramps, lively and girly pop-rock music started to come out from the speakers. Seifer could not help but laugh when he met Mary's angry gaze, who flew straight towards the D.J. the second she recognized the song. It was a pop song. She hated it to death. Still, she had no choice, since her three minutes had started. She granted the blonde a finger showing her appreciation, then rolled to the ramps, her anger rising as the girls in the crowd started to sing along to the song.

_I'm __a genius_, he concluded. His plan was flawless. It was almost too easy. His friend was terribly mad, and was skateboarding like she never did before. Every trick she did was harder than the previous, and she landed each one of them with a perfection she would never have been able to reach if she wouldn't have been so pissed off. Seifer wasn't even sure she would be able to do any of these again. She seemed to be taken over by her frustration, which only grew as time passed. She looked strangely powerful, as if her anger fed something else, the blonde noticed, slightly scared for a reason he couldn't figure out. He could only hope she would calm down at the end of the song, because, seeing the mad glimmer in her eyes, he realised he didn't want her to take it out on him. _No, she wouldn't_, he concluded.

_Don't look at me like that. I'm making you win girl. You should be glad._

- - - - -

The mist of anger that covered her eyes vanished as soon as that stupid song ended, overlapped by the clapping and cheering spectators. She wasn't so sure what had just happened, she couldn't remember half of the things she did during those three minutes, but the crowd and the judges seemed quite impressed, so she waved and walked proudly toward the benches, not listening to the voices that congratulated her.

_... What the hell happened?_

It was probably the greatest moment of her life, and she couldn't remember most of it. It sure was scary, but she had what she wanted. She would get the champion title. The rest didn't really matter that much.

The speakers squeaked, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. She still felt a bit weird, her ears were buzzing and her vision was blurry.

By the time everything got back to normal, the silver haired guy was rolling to the ramps, some rock music intro coming out of the speakers.

_How come he gets a dece__nt song and I get some pop crap?! _Mary thought offended, a sulking frown marking her features as she stared at the teen.

Not that it really mattered, she told herself, pretending she hadn't been as upset as she had when her song started to play.

But she knew that was a lie.

A public humiliation, that's what it was to her. She was no pop princess. She was darkness.

_It was __Seifer's fault_ she concluded. She had seen him near the D.J. right before her turn to go, and she had seen the smirk on his face. He was the one who picked the song. If he hadn't, she would have gotten a nice song, just like that guy, Riku, was having. They would have felt her darkness, just like they were feeling his at the very moment, and she would have had something darker, like he was having.

Jealousy peaked a little when she observed him skateboarding. He was strong and dark, she could sense it from here, and, as hard as it was to admit, he was good. Not like his friend was, not as much in control and full of confidence, but more impulsively, as if he was driven by instinct, impelled by some kind of inner force. Some brutal strength emanated from his every move, giving him a powerful style that charmed the spectators.

_So what if he __is good_, Mary thought. She knew she was better, hoped she had been at least, but she honestly wasn't sure of anything.

_Life is unfair.._

She could always blame the song if anything went wrong.

- - - - -

_Zell sure has competition this year,_ Angela thought as Riku landed his last trick, his three minutes elapsed.

The two boys were amazing, and the girl had obviously trained a lot since last year. They all skated like pros to the sorceress' eyes, and a part of her wondered if Zell'd be able to follow. She quickly chased the thought away. He counted on her to cheer for him, and to believe in him. This simple thought was enough for the young woman to swipe off all her doubts. Zell was the champion. He would make up to it.

The raven-haired young woman cheered and whistled with the other fans when the announcer introduced the blonde skateboarder.

Without losing any second, the young man quickly rolled towards the ramps, the crowd still wild as music started to come out of the speakers.

_That's totally like Zel__l,_ Angela thought with a smile. Never wasting a moment, always ready for whatever life would come up with. That was one of those things she liked about him, one of those reasons why he was such a good friend. Always ready, always there to help, he was the kind of person you could put your trust into, and never be disappointed.

The young sorceress wished he would be willing to come with her, to this faraway place she could call home. Yen Sid had said it was where he belonged too, but he seemed so happy here that Angela felt bad just thinking about asking him to leave all this behind. Still, she would ask him. He had the right to know, and to choose. She simply hoped she wouldn't be trading her best friend for a place she remembered nothing about, and that she wouldn't be crying in front of him if she'd have to leave without him.

She felt a bit sad just to think about it, but quickly passed over it.

Now was not the time for this. It was competition time. And Zell was doing great, as expected. Each one of the moves he had practiced for so long now was perfectly executed, as if the young man had been born and raised on a skateboard. Every motion seemed natural, not like Sora's trance like state, the weird aura of anger that surrounded Mary or that unnatural instinct Riku had shown. It was simply Zell, doing what he was the best at, still smiling at the crowd even if he was flipping in the air, upside-down.

He was amazing. They all had been.

Angela wondered how the judges would sort this one out.

And hoped her best friend would be the one winning.

- - - - -

"Wow! He sure deserves that champion title," said Sora as he watched Zell perform a very difficult trick as if it was routine.

"Yeah... And he's the only one who's not using any trump card…" Riku remarked in a slightly accusing tone.

"What!?" protested the brunette, trying to look innocent.

"If you think I haven't noticed Roxas..." the older teen began.

"Look who's talking, Mister I-use-my-ability-to-sense-darkness-and-light-to-win!" answered the keyblade master with a grin, elbowing his friend, who simply smirked back.

"You started it," the silver-haired teenager declared, shrugging, "and after what the girl did, I didn't have much of a choice…"

The brown-haired kid became more serious when his friend mentioned the skater-girl.

"Yeah... Say, Riku, you know what happened? I mean, what was that she was doing? Looked like she was possessed or something," he said, carefully looking around to make sure they weren't in earshot.

The silver-haired keyblader shot a glance at Mary, who was sitting a few benches away, frowning every time Zell landed a move.

"It was darkness," he declared on a rather somber tone.

"Are you sure?"

The young man nodded.

"Does this mean we'll have to... you know..." demanded Sora, uncomfortable.

He hated that part of is duty, Riku knew it, that uncertain moment when he had to choose to split good from evil when it wasn't clear. The error range was too wide for the young keyblade master's taste, and any mistake had critical consequences he'd have to be responsible of. So the older teen always tried to take that burden from his friend's shoulders, becoming the one who'd judge and separate the light from the darkness. He had experience with both, he often thought ironically, so he was the most qualified for the job.

"... No. It's not all that strong yet," the silver-haired teenager replied, making Sora sigh in relief. "She could probably let go of it if she wanted," Riku stated as he stared at the girl, "but it could turn bad if she keeps going that way."

The blue-eyed key bearer nodded.

"Then maybe we should go and talk to her before we leave... You know, to warn her or something," he proposed, uncertain.

The older teen chuckled. His friend was always full of good intentions. It was nice, but it made him a bit naïve. Riku was almost certain the girl knew darkness was not something she should toy with, but did anyway. Darkness gave power that attracted many, and it seemed to the teal-eyed young man that Mary was the kind of person to crave for that type of power. He knew all too well what it felt like. He would go talk to her, alone. Sora and Kairi were too bright, too full of light; it would probably scare her away. They wouldn't understand like he would.

"I'll go. I've got a hunch the two of you would freak her out," the silver-haired keyblader declared with a smirk, getting up to applaud Zell as his three minutes ended while his friend did the same.

"A hunch, eh?" answered the blue eyed brunette with smile as he gave Riku a side-glance. He wasn't as naïve as his friend would like to think, he could feel that there was something else, but he decided to let it slip for now. "Okay, fine. You go."

_''He knows darkness better than you anyway...''_

_''Still... It would have been nice to help...''_

_''People like her don't want help.''_

_''Are you sure? Maybe she does...''_

_...You're too naïve, Spiky.''_

- - - - -

_Curse that old freak!_

Cid lit his twentieth cigarette in an aggressive move, swearing under his breath.

"You don't know what it is you are talking about," he had been told.

Hell yeah, he knew what he was talking about. Okay, he was willing to admit a couple of details were a bit over his head, but he knew the important stuff.

The kid was dying on them. And it was 'cause of what Merlin had done years ago.

Screw the details. If the old wizard could do that lock thing back then, he had no excuses to not undo it now.

"It isn't all that simple, I'm afraid," he had been told.

Everything was always 'not-so-simple' with them fucking wizards. And it was driving him mad. He considered himself as an intelligent man, able to understand anything if explained properly. Yet, there he was, pushed away by a senile fool who kept telling him he was talking about things he didn't understand or that were more complex than what he thought. But no way hecould get an explanation from that freak.

"Everything will be explained in time," he had been told.

How the hell Merlin could remain so fucking calm was a mystery. They had no time. It probably was a matter of hours now.

And Tifa had left on top of that.

The man breathed in the smoke of his cigarette, the evanescent nicotine filling his lungs, calming him down a little. He had to wind down, he realised, or he'd go crazy, and that wouldn't help much. And he'd also have to buy himself more cigarettes.

_Things should be more like mechanics. Simple, clear, logical. Not like that goddamned magic…, _he thought

- - - - -

"Have you ever seen such a competition folks?!" the announcer's voice creaked through the speakers to the fervid crowd who answered by cheering loudly. "Let's applaud our skateboarders some more while we wait for the judges' decision. Congratulations kids, you sure gave us something to remember. Oh! The judges have made up their minds... And the verdict is... Death match! Can't really say it is a surprise though. All our finalists will ride the ramps together one last time, and at the first mistake, they're out! You heard me people, a little wrong and they're scratched! This tournament needs a winner! Alright now, let's end this memorable championship with a bang!

"Challengers, prepare yourselves.

"On my mark...

"... Ready...

"... Set..."

- - - - -

The instant the announcer's hand went down, the speakers shouting the 'go' louder than him, Mary was off, rolling quickly towards the closest rail, cutting off Zell as she did so, in a motion that would have made any other skateboarder lose his balance.

_Okay, it was rather bitchy on__ my part_, she mentally admitted, _but I'm not there to be nice._

_I'm here to win_

The girl jumped, taking her skateboard off the ground with her, making it spin around in the same motion, until it went back under her feet and over the inclined metal bar, allowing it's rider to grind along the rail. Perfectly keeping her balance, the brown haired teenager sled down the thin rail and jumped off at the last moment, flipping her board and fluidly landing back on it.

She couldn't afford to miss now, not this close to victory. But it didn't worry her that much. She felt like she was on fire. Everything was working perfectly. Each trick she executed was flawless.

Her senses were more accurate than ever. She could feel the air vibrating around her; hear the wheels rolling on the ground, on the metal, on the planks. The heartbeats of the other competitors were pounding in her ears just like her own, and she could see the detail of every motion that surrounded her, as if the time itself was slowing down, bowing before her might.

She could smell every soul in the Sandlot. The bitter lack of odor of that Sora, his red head friend, Zell, that freaking witch and all of those who claimed themselves too virtuous to let darkness in. Seifer, Fuu and Rai's evanescent shadows, waiting for the opportune moment to be unleashed, Riku's powerful aura, that wasn't totally his, she could now smell it, so suffocating he had to lock it away, even her own darkness that she had never perceived before that instant. It surrounded her, an heavy perfume that scented like her angel but not the same, filling her lungs and her head and her whole being, making her feel immortal, feeding on her yet making her stronger, devouring her own self in a way that would have scared the teen if she hadn't been already too far off, carried away by her thirst for power.

_I WILL win._

- - - - -

He had been wrong. She was in it much deeper than he first thought. It was rather obvious now.

The moment Riku noticed that Mary was acting weird after the announcer gave them the signal; he got in contact with his darkness, to smell what was going on. It was even worse than what he thought, and it was growing fast.

The teenager tried to stay focused, still skateboarding while keeping his eyes, and his sixth sense, on the girl. If she didn't let go of it soon enough, he'd have to act before anything really bad happened.

_C'mon, let it go. It's not worth it__… _he mentally pleaded, as he wondered if it was what he looked like when the darkness took the better part of him.

The silver haired keyblade bearer was barely rolling around the ramps, the suffocating scent making it hard for him to simply concentrate.

_It has__ gone too far_, he decided, ready to step off his skateboard and to chase the darkness away from the girl, but something stopped him. The foul odor was everywhere now, not only coming from Mary.

_She __noticed it too_, Riku remarked, as the poisonous smell choked her out of her dangerous trance.

_Somethin__g's coming. Something big, dark and powerful_, the teal-eyed young man concluded as he shut his special sense, unable to stand the invading odor anymore.

He just couldn't figure out where the danger was coming from.

- - - - -

His time was happening. It was so close now that he could almost see it.

The power that had been locked away from him long ago would be his again.

The memories.

No one knew their value like he did. They were cherished souvenirs of past moments that would never be again, unaware of their real purpose. He knew better. He knew their true potential, the power that lay hidden in each and every bit of memories.

Memories were knowledge, and knowledge gave power. Memories were something darkness could feed on, devouring the past to nourish its destructive fire.

He would never be a mere memory. He had sworn it to himself long ago. He would never let anyone feed on him. He'd always be the fire, never the log. He would use darkness, its power that fit him like a glove, to become immortal, always present, never to be remembered or forgotten.

Yet, the power that the memories granted had a deplorable weakness. They worked in a chain, a chain that didn't simply bind the memories to each other. It linked hearts together, so strongly that even he could not just ignore it.

He still needed more power. And he knew exactly where, how and from who he would get it. He would use the chain's weakness, and he would grow stronger.

Every piece of his plan was in place, dominos stacked in a row, waiting for him to begin the chain reaction.

It was time to start the process that would grant him the might which had been taken away from him, and maybe more.

It was time for the dark angel to push the first domino.

- - - - -

Her immortality died as quickly as it was born, leaving Mary gasping and coughing, inhaling compressive air, thick with darkness. Her head was spinning; dizzy from the lack of fresh air and the backfire of this unknown power the teen had summoned an instant earlier.

She needed all her strength to remain on her skateboard, trying to figure out what was happening. She took a breath, and then it hit her.

Something was coming, something big, dark and powerful. Familiar, yet it couldn't be. Not at this moment, not strong like that. It couldn't be _him_.

She could barely think, the invading scent infiltrating her very thoughts.

Swiftly looking from left to right, Mary was desperate to find the source of the intruding darkness before she'd lose her mind. She was scanning the nearby roof tops and the sky, inattentive to where she was going, her skateboard still carrying her forward.

The next thing she knew, she was laying on her back on the harsh ground, her head hurting, her fallen helmet a couple of feet away from her and her skateboard even farther, seeing stars. Her back and her elbows were aching too, and she was having a hard time trying to get her vision focused. The girl felt something move on the ground near her, grunting.

_Man... That hurts!_

It wasn't the first time she crashed into something, or fell to the ground, but she had never hit her head this badly before. Her vision was really blurry, and it had nothing to do with darkness this time, darkness that at least had stopped trying to invade her head, even though the brown-haired girl could still smell the foul odor with her fuzzed senses.

The dissipated scent of darkness,

Echoes of footsteps on the ground,

A silver blur in the orange sky.

- - - - -

"Are you okay? Riku's deep voice demanded, piercing through the mist that obscured Mary's senses, as he kneeled beside her, ignoring the pain he felt in his knees and elbows.

The girl responded with a confused moan, and he softly grabbed her by the shoulders, helping her to sit. She had crashed in him, rather hard, and even thought he fell harshly on the ground, she was the most badly hurt. He kindly supported her as her eyes started to focus, the skater girl coming to her senses.

"...Wh-what?" she grumbled, her brown eyes finally meeting the teen's aqua gaze.

The young man opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, the screeching sound of the speakers interrupted him.

"Well, well, well, what a crash! Bet they'll feel that one in the morning! It's too bad for them, thought, 'cause they're out of the course for the champion title. Sorry kids, better luck next time!" the announcer's voice rang all over the Sandlot.

- - - - -

Mary's heart almost burst out of her chest as she sat straight in a swift and rude motion, pushing Riku away.

"WHAT!? she shrieked, a panicked anger clearly audible in her tone. In a second she was up on her feet, as if she had never fallen or hurt her head, frustration swiping pain away.

She was out of the competition.

She had lost.

Disqualified.

Rejected.

A loser.

"No!" the girl roared, so suddenly that it made Riku jump and step away, her voice filled with the pain of wounded pride and ripped hopes.

Her dream, the only thing she had ever really wanted, the only thing she possibly could have had when all her other wishes seemed impossible, it was gone.

She had trained so hard for that moment, and all her efforts had been vain.

The victory had been so close, and now all was lost.

_How could it happen_ she wondered, despair slowly taking over the anger.

Then it struck her.

He bumped into her. It was _his_ entire fault. If she was out of the competition, it was because of _him_. Him and that stupid smelly darkness of his.

Frustration kicked back in as Mary turned around, her eyes shining with a terrible, yet darkness-free anger, as if the evil could not reach that part of her heart.

"You!" she shouted, walking towards the silver-haired young man. "Why did you do this?!" she continued as she pushed the teen, confused about what was going on, not sure he understood why the girl was shouting at him, or why it seemed like she wanted to pick a fight. "You bumped into me! You made me lose!" she yelled.

"Hey! Wait a minute, _you_'re the one that crashed into me," Riku objected, tired of being pushed around by a girl.

"I lost! Because of you!" she screamed once more, totally ignoring what the young man said.

He could not understand.

She wanted to scream her lungs out.

She wanted to rip him to pieces.

She wanted to break down and cry.

She wasn't so sure of anything anymore. But either way, she decided, she'd rather be alone.

Mary took one last glance at Riku, swift and angry, but not quick enough, for the young man caught a glimpse of tear in the eyes of the girl.

"Get out of my way," she ordered as she lowered her gaze and shoved the keyblade wielder out of her way, leaving the Sandlot in a steady pace.

- - - - -

_What's with her_ the young man wondered, rather confused about the brunette's behaviour.

It was just a skateboard competition. There was no reason for her to get so upset. Besides, _she_ was the one who bumped into him anyways.

_She was weird, probably because of the darkness_, he concluded.

_One __more good reason to go warn her_, he thought. It would just be a bit harder, now that she was angry at him, but he'd still have to do it.

Saving her heart was more important than winning or losing a skateboard competition.

He understood her frustration. He would have liked to win too. But she was overdoing it.

"Riku... you okay?" Kairi's voice echoed, taking the young man out of his thoughts, her delicate hand touching his arm softly.

"Y-yeah..." he answered after a moment, taking his eyes off the back alley where Mary had went into, and turning around to meet Kairi and Angela's worried gazes.

"What about that Mary girl? She seemed rather... upset," asked the raven haired sorceress, the question making the keyblade wielder chuckle.

"She was furious. She kept yelling at me," the young man stated, hoping that his friends could help him understand the girl's strange behaviour.

"... What for?'" the red-head demanded, a bit confused.

"'Said I made her lose..."

"But wasn't it an accident?" Angela replied after a moment.

The silver haired teen simply nodded, his eyes heading once more toward the alley where the brown haired girl had disappeared.

"... Well, it's sad that you're both out of the competition because of that accident, but there's no need to get this upset," Kairi declared, saying out loud what Riku was thinking.

It was just a game.

Yet he couldn't help but worry about her, without knowing why.

Maybe because of the darkness that was eating her from the inside.

Maybe because she reminded him of his own mistakes,

Maybe because he could swear he had seen tears in her eyes.

He'd go and talk to her. He felt like he had to.

The young man opened his mouth, ready to tell the girls he would go to talk to Mary, when the foul odor of darkness struck him, the same smell that had choked him a few moments ago. But only now the sickening stench was so strong that he could hardly breathe. Coughing heavily, a hand over his mouth and nose, Riku turned around to see Kairi and Angela looking around, search for the source the discomfort they were feeling, just like everyone else in the Sandlot.

Focusing on his part of light, the young keyblade wielder tried to push away the suffocating perfume. The moment he managed to steady his breath, a panicked scream echoed in the crowded square, as a little girl pointed the finger towards the sky.

Twilight Town's ever orange skies were turning dark grey as somber clouds started to gather in a swirl, strong winds rising and temperature dropping all too quickly to be natural.

People started to panic, screaming and running all around the Sandlot, eager to run away from the catastrophic storm that was rising, struck by a terror they could not identify or understand. The square was pure chaos, fear driving the crowd crazy, winds blowing stronger and stronger and the sky getting darker, the sound of thunder now grumbling over the shouts.

"What's going on?" Sora yelled to his best friend as he made his way towards him, throwing his helmet away, closely followed by Zell.

Riku shrugged, and before he could answer anything, a terribly powerful bolt of lightning stuck the center of the Sandlot, so strongly that it blew the skateboarding ramps to pieces, blasting them into every corner of the almost empty square.

Angela, Kairi and Zell ducked as a part flew right towards them, but Riku and Sora were faster, quickly summoning their keyblades and slicing the debris, making it harmless.

The wind started to dim down as a purple dome was magically raised over the Sandlot and its occupants.

The raven haired sorceress stood back up as a wicked laughter begun to echo. Right in the middle of the square, where the lightning had struck seconds ago, stood a tall, long sliver haired man, dressed in black and holding in his hand one of the longest swords she had ever seen, a dark angel wing coming out of his back.

"Sephiroth!" Sora shouted, steadying his grip on his keyblade as Kairi summoned hers.

"You wanted to see me, young keyblade master?" the man responded in the polite manner that only made him seem more evil, "and look who we have here," he proclaimed as he set his green gaze on Zell and Angela, slowly walking towards the wary group, "the lost sorceress and her lapdog. Interesting... Very interesting," the man continued, more for himself than anybody else. "It's been a long time," he added, eyes still on the blue garbed young woman, who was rather confused with the man's words.

She had never met him.

"What are you talking about, Sephiroth?!" demanded the brown haired keyblade master, seeing the sorceress' confusion.

The tall man turned to face the boy, an annoyed frown on his features.

"What do you want, keyblade boy?" he demanded to the brunette, vexed.

As the one winged angel turned his attention on Sora, Zell slowly stepped at Angela's side.

"Angie," he whispered to his childhood friend, careful not to be noticed by the silver haired man, "you remember the stuff I taught you about, the fighting techniques?"

"You've got to return to Radiant Garden, Sephiroth. You don't belong here, and you've caused enough trouble as it is!"

The raven haired sorceress nodded silently, closing her fists in the same motion.

"I haven't finished my business here yet. But don't worry; it'll be all over soon..."

"Good, 'cause I think you're gonna need them..." the blonde skateboarder finished in a concerned tone as the dark angel's gaze, tainted with hate and disgust, fell back on his sorceress friend.

A wicked smile cracked on the man's face while he steadied his grip on the Masamune.

Then, even though Sephiroth didn't budge, Angela could swear she heard him whisper in her ear.

"Show me what you've learned."

* * *

And that's it for this chapter.

Cliffhanger ending! ... kinda...:P Mary is such a baby... don't worry, she'll grow up one of these days... Be back soon with an action packed chapter ( for real I promise!!!)

Questions? Comments?? Suggestions??? Please review!!! I'm begging you!!

Oh, and a big thank you to SimpleNclean92 for th beta ;)

See ya!


	4. Chapt 3 The Last Day Of Spring Break pt3

**Author's note: **Yay!!! Update!! With action!!! And Sephiroth!!

Thanks to SimpleNClean92, who found the time to beta this through her classes

Go read and REVIEW!!!!

* * *

**Kingdom Hearts :**

Waltz of Memories

_Chapter __3:_

_Last Day of Spring Break_

_Part 3_

Tears of anger were flowing freely down her cheeks as Mary walked down the back alley, kicking all of the empty boxes and garbage cans that stood in her way.

She had lost.

Even in the field where she was the best, she wasn't good enough.

Sure, Riku was to blame in her defeat, there was no point in denying that.

But she should have been able to win anyway, no matter how others tried to bring her down.

She had failed.

How could she be of any help to her angel, if she couldn't even fulfill her own ambitions?

The teenager let out another roar of frustration and kicked a leftover can as hard as she could, imagining it was Riku's head. She wanted to beat the crap out of him.

_C'mon girl, get a grip, it's just a skateboard tournament, just a game. You'll get it next yea__r, _her own voice echoed in her head.

_Maybe __I was overdoing it_, she thought. But still, she felt so disappointed with herself, so frustrated and angry, that she couldn't accept it. It wouldn't be justified to feel that way.

Mary was standing there, in a back alley of Twilight Town, wondering what to do when she smelled it again: the perfume of pure darkness. Then she heard the panicked screams coming from the Sandlot and saw the skies turn from orange to dark grey.

Whatever the source of such powerful darkness was, it was now clear that it was standing in the Sandlot at the very moment.

People started to run in the alleys, trying to escape from the darkness that was invading the square, while the brown-haired teen tried to make her way back. Sliding through the crowd, she could even swear she heard Rai's voice telling her to turn around. She was almost there when she heard the astounding crash of the lightning. The mass growing thinner, the girl started to run, eager to get to the source of the darkness she was sure to have recognised now.

Just as she turned around the last corner, allowing her gaze to fall on the tall silver-haired man that stood proudly in the middle of the Sandlot, a purple dome raised itself around the square, cutting it from the outside. The teenager rushed towards it, only to get pushed away as she hit the magical barrier.

It was him, as she thought. She should have trusted her senses.

But what was her guardian angel doing in the Sandlot at this hour? And why had he locked her out?

Pressing her hands on the dome, which was as solid as the paved ground, she tried to peek through the violet blur caused by the magic.

She could see Riku and his friends, giant, fancy blade-like keys in hand, alongside Zell and the sorceress, facing her angel, who stood in front of them with all his might, a long and thin blade in hand. _He really is admirable_, the skater girl thought, as the tall, one-winged man stood calmly in front of the group while Sora was shouting at him things she couldn't make out through the barrier.

Then, all the occupants of the dome took fighting stances. After an instant, the boys jumped on him, while the girls began casting protection spells.

_How could they?!_

_Why __are they attacking him like that, five-on-one, for no plausible reason?!_ Mary wondered in shock, stepping back from the barrier, her darkness feeding on the anger that was growing in her.

They were harming him, her angel - her guardian.

_What's with them?!_

She had to help him, somehow.

The teen started to punch and kick the purple dome, desperate to find a way in and to fight the fools who dared to face the only person she really cared for, but her efforts were vain, the magical gate refusing to let her in, only causing her rage to grow even more.

She growled. "Let me in!" she shouted to the barrier in exasperation.

Just as she clenched her fists to smash the violet dome once more, Mary felt something cold and sticky crawl quickly down her right arm and straight in her closed hand. Then, in a flash of dark purple, a long and thin steel blade materialised itself in her fist. The girl stared at the sword, born from the darkness, in surprised awe. It looked a lot like the blade her dark angel wielded, but shorter.

Taking her gaze off the katana with a smile, the brunette steadied her grip and stared and the dome that kept her away from her guardian angel.

She swung the blade from left to right to test it, and then grinned.

_I'm coming..._

- - - - -

He sure wasn't making this easy.

He had already beaten the man, in a one-on-one clash, but this was totally different.

Maybe it was because the one-winged angel had grown stronger since the last time they fought.

Maybe it was because the mighty keyblade master had lost it a little.

Or maybe it was because with every move Sephiroth made, Sora couldn't help but worry for his friends' safety.

The teenager leapt out of the way as the silver-haired man slashed the Masamune towards him. Zell, taking advantage of the distraction, tried a powerful kick aimed at the dark angel's head, who dodged it at the last moment by vanishing in a flash of darkness and violet. He reappeared feet away, just in front of Kairi and Angela, at whom he swung his long and sharp blade.

The red head jumped out of the way while the young sorceress summoned a protect spell, shielding her from the dangerous steel.

Then with the speed of a haste spell, the dark-haired young woman quickly sled along the blade, breaking Sephiroth's defence, and landed three serious punches before the man disappeared again, only to reappear behind Angela and landed a hard hit, sending her away. Swiftly raising a dark reflect spell, the one-winged angel sent the fire spell she cast right back at Kairi, who only avoided it because Riku leapt in the way, his dark shield taking the blow. Taking the opportunity, Sora jumped between the tall man and his friends and started hammering him with his Ultimate Weapon keyblade, forcing Sephiroth to take a few steps back. Zell smashed the man's exposed back with a couple of strong hits before the evil angel quickly turned around, slashing the blonde fighter in the same motion, sending him to fly away, and vanishing before Sora could even hit him.

_''He's just toying with you.''_

_''I had noticed, thanks.''_

The keyblade master had no energy to waste on Roxas' annoying remarks.

But what bugged him most was that his Nobody was right.

_It's not working... We need to find something else_ the brunette thought, while Riku was fighting with the one-winged man, supported by Kairi's magic, and Angela was at Zell's side, focusing on a Cura spell.

_''Now__, think like a keyblade master!''_

Sora strongly wanted to tell the other part of him to shut up, but he knew he was trying to help, and he had no time for him. He swiftly mentally scanned all of the strategies he knew, eyes still on his two best friends and the man who was trying to hurt them. Sephiroth, seeing that the silver-haired teen could take and land hits, had quickly changed his fighting style, now focusing on trying to hurt Kairi, who was no match for the angel, forcing Riku to try and protect her, causing him to make mistakes.

_''Use your drive forms before he swipes both of them out!''_

_''No, not yet!''_

All he had to do was to get the man between his silver-haired friend and himself, and unleash their limit break's magic. Even the one-winged angel stood no chance against the Eternal Session.

With renewed hope, Sora ran back into the battle, blocking a hit aimed at the young Princess of Heart that Riku could not have, and counterattacking wildly at Sephiroth, forcing him to back away from Kairi. Side by side, the young keyblade wielders started hammering the tall man, who had begun to feel a certain pressure that only worsened when Kairi cast Hastega on her best friends, causing them to hit even faster, making it hard for the dark angel to dodge. Vanishing to get away from the trap, Sephiroth reappeared right in front of Zell, who greeted him with a powerful blow, square in the face. The one-winged man took a few steps back, only to get trapped by the keyblade wielders.

Then Angela arrived, and cast a very powerful Quake spell right beneath the man's feet.

Tired of being pushed around, Sephiroth decided the game was over and stretched his only wing, jumping in the same motion, hovering right above the magical earthquake, and between Sora and Riku.

The keyblade's chosen one had him right where he wanted to.

The one-winged angel would not escape this one.

Gathering the necessary magic, the brunette focused an instant, his eyes glued on the silver haired man.

_''Alright, smash him good.''_

_''Will do!''_

His magic ready, Sora shouted his best friend's name, prepared to jump over Sephiroth as soon as he would respond, but the other teen remained quiet.

Taking his eyes off the hovering man for an instant, the brown-haired keyblader looked down.

The one-winged angel couldn't have asked for more.

He lunged at them, eager to show them the real power of darkness.

- - - - -

_What the hell is she doing?!_

He had been ready, his magic built up for the limit break he knew Sora was about to call.

He had been ready to crash into that wicked man and force him right back to Radiant Garden.

He had been ready to jump forward, unleashing Eternal Session whenever his friend would have demanded it.

But he didn't.

The instant Sora shouted his name; Riku felt something strongly pulling the back of his collar, forcing him to take a few steps back, only to set his eyes on Mary, holding in hand a sword much like Sephiroth's.

"Leave him alone!" she ordered in a mad tone before slashing her katana at the silver-haired teen, who parried at the very last instant.

"What?!" he demanded in a confused tone, but she ignored him and continued to hammer him with relentless hits that the keyblade wielder had a hard time blocking. "What are you doing? Stop it!" he shouted, swinging his keyblade at her for the first time in a self defensive move the girl did not manage to parry.

He felt bad the moment he landed the blow and was ready to apologize, but the hit only seemed to make the brunette angrier, feeding the strange glimmer that shone in her eyes as she continued to slash her sword at him with even more speed and strength.

Then he understood, blaming himself for not having noticed earlier.

It was darkness, the unhealthy fire that fed on her unexplainable anger.

Riku blocked another hit.

"Let go of it! Darkness won't make things better! he told her, desperate to find a way to bring her back to her senses so he could go back to help Sora.

Mary seemed neither surprised nor convinced.

"How could you know?" she proclaimed, swinging her thin and sharp blade at him once more.

He gracefully leapt out of the way.

"I know, believe me," he declared, taking a few steps back to catch his breath.

The girl stared at him for an instant, and the keyblade wielder almost thought she would lower her weapon, but she simply snorted in disbelief and hacked at him some more.

_Fine then_, he thought, tired of being patient, helpful and nice with the girl when his friends needed him, _it's not as if you were giving me much of a choice._

Riku was ready to knock her out, eager to return fighting Sephiroth, when he heard Kairi's panicked scream.

"Sora!"

- - - - -

The instant the keyblade master lowered his eyes to see his best friend fighting Mary, the one-winged angel was on him, forcing the teen to roll out of the man's path.

Sephiroth stopping a few feet in front of her, Kairi took the occasion to swing her flowered keyblade at him, but he easily blocked the blow, and roughly shoved her to the ground, quickly turning around to face Sora.

The brown-haired keyblader immediately recognised the attack, and readied himself to block the dozens of blows that would fall upon him in a few seconds.

"That's enough," the tall, silver-haired man proclaimed before lunging at the keyblade's chosen one so quickly that he might as well as teleported. The second the one-winged angel placed his feet back on the ground, past Sora, the latter started to block and parry an impressive number of hits that seemed to come out of nowhere.

While the keyblade master was still dodging his attack, Sephiroth jumped back in the air, throwing orbs of darkness at Angela. Zell tried to get the dark angel with a powerful air kick, but the man vanished as the blonde's foot was on him, and reappeared right behind him, landing a powerful combination of solid hits in his back, ending with a smash that sent the skateboarding champion straight into a wall, where he collapsed.

"Zell!" Sora shouted, furious, as he jumped towards the one-winged man, ready to crash him with the Ultima Weapon keyblade, but Sephiroth was faster. Gliding out of the way of the keyblade, the dark angel invaded the brunette's defences and grabbed his right wrist, twisting it until the bones snapped, making the teen drop his weapon and let out a painful groan. Then, the two of them floating in the air, right in the middle of Twilight Town's Sandlot, Sephiroth lifted the now numb body of Sora until their eyes met.

"I have known you to be better, Keyblade master," the man said, an evil smile lighting his features. "Let's see if a bit of darkness could help..." he added as the spiky, brown-haired teen felt thorns of thick darkness crawl in his hand and up his arm. The keyblade bearer shouted in pain as the thick substance infected his wound and his whole forearm, making the one-winged angel's smirk grow wider.

Then, the man simply threw the teenager away to crash into a nearby wall, but wasn't quick enough to avoid the powerful Holy spell Angela sent right on him, hitting him as hard as any spell ever could.

"Sora!" Kairi shouted, her panic clearly audible in her tone, running towards the place where her friend crashed, while Sephiroth reported his attention on the raven-haired sorceress, who stared at him defiantly. "Sora!" the red-haired teen kneeled down at her friend's side, "Sora, are you okay?" she demanded, worry filling her voice.

The keyblade master grunted as he sat a little straighter, his broken wrist lying on his lap, fighting to remain conscious.

" ...It's ...it's okay, Kai ..." the teenager managed to mutter, struggling to straighten up, when he felt the freshness of the girl's soft hand on his arm, and the comforting warmth of a Cure spell fill his whole body with energy, except for his numbingly painful and wounded arm. "It's just my wrist," he said with more ease, plunging his gaze in his friend's sky blue eyes. The red head reached for the brunette's hand, who winced in pain the instant her fingers brushed his skin. "I think it's broken," he added.

"Let me fix it," the Princess of Heart kindly demanded, a caring smile replacing the worry on her features. "Cura?" she asked him, still uncertain on the strength needed for such a wound.

Sora stretched his right arm towards Kairi, took a look through her eyes, and then looked down, thinking, his gaze rising when he heard Angela shout in pain. The keyblade master faced his friend, a determined look in his deep blue eyes.

"Curaga."

He was confident in the girl's magic skills, which kept getting better everyday, but he needed the wound to be perfectly healed, and fast, because he wasn't sure the sorceress could fight Sephiroth on her own for much longer. It would hurt a lot, since Curaga spells, while quickly healing a massive amount of damage, always brought the same pain the creation of the wound had brought for a short amount of time, but the brunette had no choice. He had seen worse anyway.

The red head did nothing to hide her worries, but did not protest as her friend sat straight.

"Ready?" she asked, driving her eyes in his as she softly grabbed his left hand.

The teen just nodded in silence, taking a deep breath and bracing himself for the pain that was about to come. The girl closed her eyes.

"Curaga," she whispered, green magic surrounding the hand she held above Sora's broken wrist, the healing magic flowing from her body to his as her hand lowered on his wound.

The keyblade master yelled in pain.

He had seen worse, but never had a Curaga spell hurt him that bad.

His left hand crushed Kairi's as he felt an acute ache replace the numbness in his right wrist. It was like having thousands of razor blades coming in and out of his arm, burning, cutting and slashing his wound.

His whole body was shaking from the torture that lasted for was seemed like an eternity to the young keyblader.

Then the suffering stopped and left the teen gasping to catch his breath, his head dizzy from the pain.

The girl could not be fooled. Something was going wrong. She had used the spell before and it had never done anything like that.

_This can't be good…_she thought.

"Sora ...What happened?" she asked him, more worried than ever, her hand firmly grasping her friend's left arm. The brunette shrugged, his breath still short while the intense pain was slowly fading away. "Did it work?" the Princess of Heart inquired as she was trying to make eye contact with the keyblade's chosen one.

Breaking the mist the pain had created on his senses, the teen turned around and stared at Kairi, looking confused, before gazing down to his arm. He tried to move it, only to feel the pain strike back at him, even stronger than before the healing spell, forcing a yelp out of the keyblade master.

Sora shook his head and took a moment to catch his breath when he heard Angela cry in pain once more.

He had to go back. He had to get that wrist fixed.

"...Again," he croaked, stretching his wounded arm towards the red-headed girl one more time. She opened her mouth to protest, but the shouts of the young sorceress echoed on the walls of the Sandlot, brining the princess's eyes to the ferocious struggle between the raven and silver-haired angels.

Angela needed their help, but Kairi couldn't do it alone.

Returning her gaze on her wounded friend, the girl nodded, and then reached out for Sora free hand once more.

"Curaga."

The magic flowed once again from her body to his, making the boy's body jolt in pain once more when the green energy entered in contact with his wound. Yelping and shaking uncontrollably under a torment more painful than before, the keyblade master felt his strength leave him through the veil of his suffering, his eyes rolling as he was ready to pass out from the pain.

Then the torture dimmed down, leaving the brunette so weak he was about to faint. Kairi grabbed him by the shoulders, panicked and worried sick, and shook him a little, calling his name, ready to call forth another healing spell.

"Don't heal it!" Riku's voice came out of nowhere. The princess of heart lifted up her gaze to see her friend kneel down next to Sora, blessing his arrival. Grabbing the brunette's chin, the silver haired young man slapped him softly on the cheeks, calling his name. The younger teen moaned in response, trying hard to open his eyes without any success. The taller keyblader grabbed his friend's wounded arm, and lifted it to his face, quickly smelling to find the foul odour he was looking for.

Darkness.

_Crap, _he thought.

"The wound's infected with darkness," the young man stated as he lowered his friend's arm. "Healing it only makes it worse," he said, facing his red-haired companion when the keyblade master moaned, fighting to remain conscious. "We'll have to take it out before we can fix it." A loud thud made Riku turn around, rising as he did so, his eyes stuck on the cloud of dust that Angela's crash in a wall created. "I don't have time for this now," he said while summoning his keyblade. "Stay with him," the silver-haired young man ordered his friend, their eyes meeting as Kairi nodded, then the teen started to run towards Sephiroth, who seemed to be waiting for Riku to come and challenge him.

"...R-Riku ..." Sora groaned, trying hard to pierce the weariness the pain had brought upon him. The Princess of Heart cuddled her friend in her arms; softly casting Cure spells on him while carefully avoiding his broken wrist.

"Don't worry, he'll be alright," the girl said, even thought she wasn't convinced with her own words.

- - - - -

The Holy spell had worked even better than what the young sorceress had expected, hitting the one-winged angel hard enough to make him grunt from the pain, and have his attention off Sora, who seemed seriously wounded.

But now she'd had to face the evil man – alone.

The mere thought of it frightened her to death. She was so scared she wasn't even sure she'd remember how to fight.

She did not stand a chance against Sephiroth.

Still, she'd have to.

She'd have to for her new friends, for Zell …and for herself.

Swallowing her fears and her doubts, Angela cast all the supportive spells she knew before the silver haired man arrived to her. With hasted speed, she rolled out of the Masamune's long reach and turned around, blasting the floating dark angel with a powerful Aero spell that pushed him feet away. With one simple stretch of his wing, the tall man regained the control of his flight, and lunged at the young woman, slashing at her with his sharp and thin blade with a wild precision. The dark haired sorceress jumped, twisted, rolled and turned to dodge Sephiroth's ferocious attacks, her Protect spell taking the blows she wasn't able to avoid, every movement she made taking her closer to the one-winged man, until she entered his guard, and landed a solid kick, boosted with an Blizzard spell, right in the evil angel's face. Toughly taking the hit, the silver haired swordsman swiftly grabbed Angela by the front of her blue jumper before she could run away from him.

"Want to play with magic?" he asked in a wicked tone filled with hatred as he raised her to his face. Then, the tall man threw the young woman upwards, only to swing his long sword at her, sending her to fly even higher above his head, a yelp of pain echoing in the Sandlot as the Protect spell could not handle all the damage. "Meet your fate," Sephiroth declared in a sombre tone, a twisted smirk on his features as he lifted his free hand to the dark skies.

A wide column of fire rose from under his feet, engulfing the man, and quickly ascending towards Angela. The raven haired sorceress cast a Float spell to help her regain the control of her fall, and then back flipped from midair, jumping out of the fire's range. The dark man's magic ended as the young woman softly landed back to the ground. Not wasting a second, she gathered her magic and struck the one-winged angel with a very powerful Thundaga spell.

The man took the blow, and quickly recovered before starting to pursue the witch all around the Sandlot, swinging his long blade and throwing deep purple orbs of darkness at her while the raven haired young woman ran to escape his attacks and unleashed her magic at him, a deathly cat and mouse chase in the heart of Twilight Town.

Jumping out of the Masamune's reach, Angela cast another Holy spell right on Sephiroth, who let out a pained grunt before falling back to the ground. For an instant, the young woman thought she had done it, that she had won against the evil angel of darkness, but then the silver-haired man raised his green gaze on her, allowing her to see the wicked smile on his features.

Taking his time, he slowly rose back up and straightened, still smirking at the sorceress, who was starting to feel tired and really uncomfortable.

"Tell me, witch, how long do you think you'll be able to keep your pitiful spells flowing like this?" His tone was filled with hatred and disdain as he spoke, but the truth behind his words slapped her hard. Not losing a second, she scanned her own magical resources, afraid of what she would find.

The one-winged angel had seen right.

Her magic energy was almost exhausted.

Sephiroth's twisted smile widened as he saw the panicked look on Angela's features.

"Despair," the silver-haired man proclaimed as he lunged for the young woman once again. But this time, the sorceress felt powerless, the dark angel's words reflecting her state of mind.

Then, the blows started to fall down on her. Hit after hit, the attacks rammed the raven-haired girl's Protect shield, breaking through it from time to time, causing her to yelp in pain. She tried to evade and to block a couple of blows, but Sephiroth was everywhere, teleporting faster than ever, surrounding the sorceress and storming her with relentless strikes as she was feeling her protective magic fading off slowly.

Then, the hits stopped for an instant, leaving Angela kneeling, gasping to catch her breath while her Regen spell was trying hard to fix the damage she had taken. The young woman lifted her deep brown gaze and met the dark angel's green irises, his smiled turning more twisted than ever as she felt her Protect spell - her last protection, vanish.

"Let's end this," the man solemnly declared as he raised the Masamune once more, ready to swing it at the defenceless sorceress.

- - - - -

Riku paused feet before the man, who seemed to be waiting for him, judging whether he'd be a worthy opponent or not, coldly staring at the teen.

"Tell me, keyblade bearer," the one-winged angel began, "how is it that you can wield Kingdom Hearts' sacred weapon when you carry so much darkness?'

The disdain in his words slapped the silver-haired young man, who felt his anger rise quickly.

"Just wait and you'll see," he answered, tightening his grip on his keyblade, readying himself to jump at the swordsman.

"Oh ...Is that so? ...Maybe I'll be able to get myself one soon enough then," Sephiroth responded with a sardonic laugh as he slowly took a fighting stance. "Show me your strength."

Riku didn't wait for the invitation to jump at the tall man, his fury taking over his patience.

Sora was wounded. He had hurt Kairi, Zell and Angela.

He had just compared the teen to himself.

It was time for the bastard to learn a lesson.

In touch with his light and his darkness, his senses acute and alert, the silver-haired keyblade wielder leapt, jumped, twisted and turned around the dark angel, wildly swinging his keyblade at him, swiftly parrying the hits the man tried to land on him. For a moment, the two of them struggled all over the Sandlot, darkness facing darkness in a black and purple clash, blades crossing as hits were parried and blocked while none of them seemed to get the upper hand.

Taking a few steps back, the two silver heads stared at each other as they evaluated the situation. Then, Sephiroth smirked and stretched his black wing, softly jumping to hover silently a few feet above the ground. Riku grunted as he realised the man had been playing with him, and that he would now probably be twice as fast as he was on the ground. Not backing down, the keyblade bearer took a deep breath, steadied his grip on his weapon, and braced himself to face the one-winged angel.

''If Sora can beat this guy, I can do it," the teen told himself, hoping that he might find some strength in his pride.

Not wasting any more of his time, the tall, silver-haired swordsman prepared his weapon, ready to lunge at the teen with all the might of unleashed darkness.

"That's enough," he proclaimed one more time, and Riku felt his keyblade rumble in his hand, warning him of an imminent threat from which he had no idea how to protect himself.

Sephiroth took one step forth, quickly followed by another, eager to disappear and to rip the insolent keyblader to pieces.

But before he could take the last step of his deathly attack, a strong kick came out of nowhere, smashing him in the stomach, forcing him to back up and to abort his strike.

Angela landed between the one-winged angel and the keyblade bearer, a proud and defiant look back on her features. The last hit the man had landed on her had knocked her out, but her Regen spell had quickly made up for the hits, bringing the sorceress back to consciousness. Riku's fight with the evil swordsman had allowed her to charge up a little bit of magical energy, enough for her to boost herself up with her supportive spells, and to get back in the struggle.

The dark angel's eyes burned with hatred as he laid them on the raven-haired young woman.

"You're not dead yet? Let me fix this," he declared with aversion as he lunged at the blue-garbed witch, who rolled out of the way, trying to get closer to the man for she could not cast any spells at him, her magical reserves were still very low. And even if she couldn't get close enough to hit him, Angela would simply serve as a distraction to allow Riku to smash Sephiroth.

Leaping and dodging out of the Masamune's long reach, the sorceress waited, attracting the dark angel's attention and searching her surroundings.

She didn't know for how long she could serve as a bait.

_What is Riku doing?!_ she wondered as she avoided another slash.

- - - - -

"Sora!"

The red head's annoying shriek distracted Riku a moment, allowing Mary to swing a powerful blow, aimed right at the young man's torso. Catching a flash of sliver from the corner of his eye, the keyblade wielder raised his blade just in time to parry the strong hit. Pushing the blades, the silver-haired teen forced the girl to back up a little.

"I've wasted enough time on you," he stated, lifting his keyblade to his fighting stance. "Get out of my way."

"No," the brown-haired skater girl answered before jumping at him once more, ready to mash him with her sharp blade, but the moment the sword went down, it only slashed thin air, the young man already at Mary's side, out of the katana's reach. Not wasting a moment, Riku slammed his elbow into the brunette's back, surprising her and sending her to the ground. Rolling at the last second to break her fall, the girl swiftly got up and turned around to face the young man, whose key-like blade was already falling down on her. Raising her thin sword as fast as she could, Mary blocked the blow, just like Seifer had shown her when they had trained during the winter.

"Attacking is nice," he had told her, "but sometimes, when you find a worthy opponent, you'll have to parry too, or else you'll get swiped way too easily."

Her duel lessons with her blonde friend echoing in her mind, her body boiling with the might of darkness, the girl counterattacked in a swift and fluid motion, forcing the other teen to dodge out of the blade's way. Taking her advantage, the skateboarder assaulted Riku with a series of strong and quick blows, but he blocked them all, and started to strike back at Mary. The two of them duelled a moment while Sora's screams and blasts of magic rang in the Sandlot, the young man cruelly aware that he needed to hurry.

The brown-haired girl grinned as one of Seifer's tricks came to her mind. As the two blades were crossed, the brunette showed it to the silver-haired young man, breaking his guard for a short instant, just long enough to allow the girl to smash his plexus with a dark Fire spell that sent him rolling a few feet away.

Rising up, Riku stared at Mary, anger rising up inside him. Extending his left arm, the teen unleashed his Dark Blast straight at the girl, sending a pack of dark purple orbs flying at her.

_Two can play that game_she thought.

The brunette started to feel a little fear as she saw the dark blasts arrive at her. She tried to block the first orb that charged on her, but the strength of the blow almost took her sword out of her hand. Running away from the rest of the magical charges, she tried to dodge them, but one of them struck her in the back, then another in her stomach, then in the back once more, a pained yelp escaping the brown-haired teen's lips as she collapsed to the ground, her blade falling out of her hand and landing next to her.

Mary grunted as she heard footsteps coming her way, and stretched her hand to reach the sword, but Riku was faster. Stepping on the katana, he sent it away with one kick, and then faced the skater girl, his keyblade pointed at her chin.

"Now what?" the brunette asked in a defiant tone, her words giving echo to the silver-haired young man's thoughts. "You going to kill me?" she demanded with just a little fear in her tone. Her brown eyes, now free of the mad glimmer of darkness, plunged into the teen's teal gaze.

_Kill her? _He wondered.

She probably deserved it.

It was his duty. He had to decide for the best.

She had given in to the darkness, and would probably do it again.

_But so have I..._

Sora screamed once more, shaking Riku out of his doubts.

Gathering his energy, he raised a small, dark blue dome over Mary, so small she could barely sit, and then ran towards his two best friends, who definitely needed his help, leaving the brown-haired girl in her magical prison.

She was stuck, trapped, beaten.

And it seemed so easy for him that it made her want to scream.

She laid there for a long moment, wondering what to do. The dome seemed as solid as the previous one, and her sword was on the other side.

She was confined - imprisoned there until Riku and his friends manage to defeat her angel, then they would come back, only to set what kind of sentence would be hers.

_They're probably gonna kill me__…_ she thought as she started to give up hope.

There had to be a way to get out of this cell.

She wasn't ready to die yet.

She wanted to live.

Mary mustered up her rage and anger, and started to hammer the dark blue dome with her fists and feet, but it didn't seem to affect the barrier at all. Tears of despair started to roll down her cheeks as she hit the magical field harder, ignoring the pain that rumbled in her hands and feet.

_Why won't you go away?!_

The dome's resistance only made her fury grow and her hope dim. She wildly hammered the barrier as she screamed now, her darkness creeping back, fed by her fear, her anger and her despair.

_Let me OUT!_

Then it happened again, the sticky feeling that crawled down her arm to her hand, and her sword's handle materialised itself in her right palm, followed by the rest of the blade.

She smirked in a wicked fashion as her eyes began to glimmer once more, the darkness consuming her despair and doubts, leaving only its dark mirth to side with her rage.

_Time for take two_, she thought before slicing through the dark blue dome with her sharp katana. The barrier simply vanished, allowing the girl to get up and check the situation.

Her angel was still alive and well, and even seemed to have the upper hand, as the red head girl and Sora were sitting out of the battleground, the brunette seeming badly injured, while Zell was out cold and the witch and Riku were facing her guardian together.

"Let's make things a little more fair," she said to herself before running towards the silver-haired keyblade wielder and grabbing him by the back of his collar once more, pulling him away from the fight and sending him to roll a couple of feet away.

Mary stood between Riku and her angel, a proud smile on her face, her katana pointed towards the silver-haired teen.

- - - - -

When Sora finally managed to open his eyes, feeling his strength come back under Kairi's Cure spells, it seemed to him like he had never closed them.

Angela was still fighting a losing battle against Sephiroth, and his best friend was still struggling to get Mary out of his way.

The keyblade master sat straighter in his red-headed friend's arms, flinching as pain stung in his right wrist once again.

"W-we've got to help Angela, Kairi," the brunette croaked as he tried to get up without success.

The girl moved away from her friend and softly helped him to get up.

"But how? You're wounded, and I'm just not good enough to face Sephiroth," the Princess of Heart stated, her words, sad but true, plunging the keyblade's chosen one into his thoughts.

His right hand was useless, so charging back again to fight the one-winged angel with his keyblade was pointless.

There had to be something he could do with his left hand.

_Think Sora, think_ he ordered himself mentally. Where was Roxas and his clever ideas when he needed them?

Roxas' ideas…

The drive forms.

The solution hit him like a slap in the face. He could drive with Kairi.

The girl's magical abilities had allowed the two of them to drive Sora in the Wisdom Form; he'd just have to use his left hand to hold his keyblade. It wouldn't be as easy as it is with the right, but the Wisdom Form was mainly focused on magic, so it wouldn't be that bad.

He turned around to face his friend, a smile of renewed hope lighting his features.

"Help me," he simply demanded, extending his left hand towards Kairi, who quickly understood what Sora was asking.

"You think it'll do?" the Princess of Heart asked as she placed her hand over her friend's.

"It has to," the brunette whispered to himself as he grabbed the red-haired girl's hand, both of them unleashing the necessary magic to perform the drive.

The girl's body quickly started to glow of a blinding white, until she was nothing but light. Then, the mass of light that Kairi had become crashed into the keyblade master's chest, causing his body to bend backwards as the power flowed inside him, the light spreading itself on the brunette's clothes. Then, suddenly, the light disappeared and Sora's body bent back straight again, his clothes now in shades of blue, his feet gliding a few inches above the ground and Oathkeeper

turning fast between the fingers of his left hand, the strong feeling of powerful magic rushing through his veins, numbing the pain in his right wrist.

The pleasure of the drive finished to fill the young keyblade master with energy. It wasn't the invincibility he felt like in the Final Form, the control of the Master Form or the strength of the Valor Form, but a feeling of endless knowledge; as if the world held no secret he could not find or understand.

Kairi at his side, inside him, surrounding him, whispering in his ears, guiding his hand, preparing the spells he would cast a second later, Sora silently charged towards Sephiroth, his feet sliding above the ground, and struck the man's back with a powerful combo of Thundaga spells, causing him to grunt loudly and to turn around, losing sight of Angela, who was more than glad for the distraction.

Gliding out of the Masamune's long range, the keyblade's chosen one spun his weapon, pointed it at the one-winged angel, and started to fire white blasts of magic at him as he continued to slide around the Sandlot, each magic bullet hitting the tall man square in the chest. More than just annoyed, the silver-haired swordsman started to chase down the keyblade bearer, eager to get rid of him, growling as the white shots the boy fired slowed him down. Vanishing to get out of the brunette's aim, Sephiroth reappeared right behind Sora, but the young man was already far away, striking the dark-winged man with a combination of Blizzaga spells, huge magical blocks of ice falling on the swordsman one after the other as the keyblade master was sliding away from his reach.

Recovering from the hits, the evil angel depleted his wing, ready to charge at the keyblade boy once again, when he heard the sorceress' footsteps right behind him. Quickly spinning around, Sephiroth slashed Angela with a powerful strike that broke through her protection spells, hitting her right in the stomach, sending her crashing in a wall with a yelp of pain.

"Angela!" Sora shouted, Kairi audible in the back of his voice, causing the one-winged angel to smile. She wouldn't get up from that one, he knew it.

Now was the time to take care of the keyblade brat.

- - - - -

She was really pissing him off.

The blades slashed, clashed and crossed as Riku tried to knock off Mary, the task turning out harder than what he had thought. The girl obviously had lessons, darkness was on her side and she was learning far too fast to the silver-haired teen's taste.

"_Why care?"_ a deep voice echoed in his mind, a voice that he had not heard for a while, and that only showed itself when he started to doubt or to get weak. "_She is obviously trying to kill you. Why not return the favor?"_

Focusing on the fight, the aqua-eyed keyblade bearer held on to his inner light, struggling to kick Xehanort's Heartless out of his head.

Parrying a hit from the brown-haired girl, Riku swung Way to Dawn at her, forcing her to jump out of the way. Stretching his left arm at her, the silver haired teen shot his Dark Blast at her once more, the pack of dark and purple orbs flying at the girl, who ran away again.

The keyblader smirked, certain he had her once again, but then the brunette jumped high and turned around, easily dodging and slashing the orbs that came at her, before landing back to the ground and charging at the silver haired young man.

"_Need some help?"_ the dark voice asked, the words echoing in the teen's mind.

"No! Shut up!" Riku shouted out loud before focusing hard on the light in him, eager to trap Xehanort's Heartless back.

The girl slowed her charge, an eyebrow crooked as she looked at her opponent.

_He's nuts_, she thought, and then struck back at him, the fierce duel continuing.

Between the clashes of the blades, the silver-haired keyblader heard Angela's pained scream, and Sora's angry shout.

His friend was still up and fighting.

Riku took a quick look at him. He was in his Wisdom form. That meant Kairi was okay, and that they still had a chance. But he needed to get rid of the girl really soon.

He swung his keyblade at Mary once again, and they exchanged a couple of blows, the young man waiting for his opportunity, until it finally happened.

It was just a little opening in the girl's guard, just big enough for quick hand.

Not wasting a second, the keyblader thrust his hand through the opening in the brunette's defence, grabbed her sword wielding wrist and twisted it, just enough for her to drop her katana and let out a shriek of pain and surprise. Then he swiftly let go of her arm to grab her by the front of her shirt, and lifted her from the ground, ready to smack her on the forehead with the handle of his keyblade to knock her out.

But then he heard the astounding sound of the thunder, and couldn't help but to look at Sora and Sephiroth fighting for a short moment.

The keyblade master finished his Thundaga combo, and then glided a few steps away, spinning his keyblade to fire his blasts of white magic at the one-winged angel, but the man lunged closer to the teenager, forcing him to dash out of his way. The brunette spun around, ready to send a powerful Blizzaga spell right in the evil angel's face, but Sephiroth arrived at Sora's right side, critically delaying his attack for a second, allowing the silver-haired man to get a hold on the keyblader before he could cast his spell.

Drive form or not, even the keyblade's chosen one could not beat the one-winged angel with a broken wrist.

Hitting the teen's weapon and causing it to fall to the ground, the dark angel grabbed the front of the brown-haired young man's shirt, and threw him high in the air. Vanishing, the tall man reappeared beside Sora, and stared to slash him from one side to another, landing blow after blow of his powerful combo on the young keyblade master who was letting out screams of pain. Then Sephiroth smashed the brunette with a mighty finishing hit that sent him flying straight in a wall, a white light quickly flashing from the boy's body as his clothes came back to normal and Kairi appeared in his arms, unconscious.

"Sora! Kairi!" Riku shouted, lowering the brown-haired girl as his two friends fell to the ground with a loud thud, the girl lying in the keyblade master's arms.

- - - - -

Mary did not wait any longer.

She swung her knee right in the silver-haired teen's stomach, making him bend down in pain, losing his grip on the girl's shirt. Then, the brown-haired skateboarder kicked the keyblader, sending him to roll to the ground. Grabbing back her sword, she pointed it on the other teen again, and proudly waited as her angel made his way towards her.

The tall, silver-haired man walked slowly through the Sandlot, a wicked smile on his face, his green gaze fixed on Riku, who was kept on the ground by the girl's blade. He kept staring at the young man even as he arrived next to the two teens, then sled his eyes up the sword Mary was wielding and to the girl.

"So you have found Murasama," stated the one-winged angel. The brunette looked down at her katana, repeating the name as she admired the blade. "Excellent... Now let's see what you can do with it," the swordsman demanded as he faced her.

The brown-haired girl turned towards Riku, darkness shining in her brown irises.

"Want me to finish him?" she asked her guardian, ready to accomplish his demands, eager to show him her worth.

The silver-haired teen prepared himself to summon Way to Dawn back in his hands. He was not even wounded, and he had no intention of letting her kill him without doing anything.

But the one-winged angel's answer surprised them all.

"No."

The glimmer in the teen's brown eyes vanished. She turned her head to meet her guardian's gaze, still awaiting his order, as he took a few steps back from the two teenagers.

Now was the time for him to test his puppet, to make sure she would be of some use, that the bond was strong enough. If not, he would just have to destroy her. She would be useless.

"Show me your strength," he commanded, lifting his long sword into his battle stance, leaving the brunette shocked and confused.

"What?!" she asked, turning around to face the tall man, lowering her weapon.

Riku did not wait any longer.

He summoned his keyblade and quickly knocked the tip of Mary's blade away from him, and rolled backwards, getting up in the same motion. Swiftly raising Way to Dawn at the height of his head, the silver-haired teen took his battle stance, eyes fixed on the one-winged angel, while the brown-haired girl stood between the two of them, confused about what was happening.

- - - - -

He had asked her to prove her usefulness, to show him her strength.

_But how?_

She laid her eyes on the silver-haired keyblader.

He had said he didn't want her to kill Riku.

_Then what?_

Fight him again now that he was back on his feet?

Turning around, Mary looked at her guardian, his long sword at hand, his green gaze fixed on her.

Just her, his gaze never drifted to Riku.

_To fight __him?_

She would never. He would never her ask that.

The three stood there for an instant, the two silver-haired men ready to fight while the girl was trying to figure out what to do, when the one-winged angel broke the peace of the moment, charging towards the brunette and swinging Masamune at her.

The teenager barely blocked the hit with her own blade, the surprise and the force of the impact sending her to roll a couple of feet away.

He had tried to hit her, to harm her. He wanted her to fight him.

The facts shocked her as much as the clash of his sword on hers.

He had always been there for her, lurking in her shadow for as long as she could remember, guiding and protecting her.

And now he wanted her to fight him, with long and sharp blades of steel that were way too real.

_Never._

She would find another way to show him what she could do. She wouldn't fight him. He wasn't the enemy.

They were - the ones who kept trying to harm him.

- - - - -

Riku charged Sephiroth the moment the man's hit pushed Mary out of the way.

The silver-haired teen didn't quite understand why the evil angel had tried to hit his own ally, but he wasn't going to complain.

The girl was crazy, but the two of them wouldn't be too much against the one-winged swordsman.

The keyblader swung Way to Dawn, forcing the dark angel to parry and back up a little.

Then, the teen saw something coming from the corner of his eye. He quickly turned himself, raising his keyblade to block the brown haired girl's thin blade.

_What the hell?_

_She is__ far more than just crazy,_ the teenager concluded. She was fighting him, while Sephiroth was trying to get to her, a wicked smile on his features. Resisting the urge of slapping some sense into the girl's head, Riku decided the one-winged angel was the more dangerous of the two, even though the silver-haired man made no attempt to fight him, focusing his hits on Mary, who simply blocked and dodged them before charging back at the other teen.

So he jumped into the fight, avoiding the girl's blows and swinging his keyblade at the evil man, the three of them engaged in a wild melee, each of them blocking one's hits and attacking the other.

The chase lasted a moment, swords clashing while no one seemed to get the advantage, but it quickly turned out that Mary was no match for Sephiroth, the man swiftly vanishing every time the keyblade wielder tried to hit him and reappearing next to the brunette, who started to focus simply on blocking the hits, only trying to slash the silver-haired teen when he got near her.

_This is __pointless_, Riku thought bitterly, _he's trying to kill her. We should be on the same side!_

He wanted to shout at her, to make her understand he wasn't her enemy, but deep down he knew it wouldn't change anything. She wouldn't listen to him. Most of her darkness had let go of her now, and still she refused to see he was on her side, swinging her katana at him while the one-winged angel was the one who was trying to harm her.

She had gone too far. It was too late. He'd have to take care of Sephiroth all by himself.

The keyblader blocked another one of Mary's blows, but counter-attacked this time, hitting her strongly as she was not expecting any retaliation and sending her to roll a couple of feet away, breathing hard.

Then, hearing the slight sound of the one-winged angel's footsteps on the ground, Riku turned around, but not fast enough.

With one powerful slash, the dark-winged man sent the keyblade bearer up in the air, and vanished to reappear while flying next to him, ready to land his terrible combo on the teen. Raising his Dark Shield, the silver-haired teenager managed to block the first two blows, but then the protection faded, and the evil angel quickly hammered him from one side to the other, the keyblader grunting as the Masamune's sharp steel cut, slashed and trashed him, the last hit sending him to the ground, where he landed in a loud thud.

- - - - -

Mary got up as quickly as she could, but Riku's last hit had caught her off guard and hit her good.

Raising her gaze and her sword, she saw her angel send the silver-haired teen to the ground with a mighty combination of swift and strong hits that only he could do.

Grinning proudly, she made her way towards her guardian as he got his feet back on the ground. She opened her mouth, but the one-winged angel was faster.

Quickly stretching his arm, he grabbed the brunette by the neck, almost choking her as he lifted her from the ground.

"I would have expected you to be stronger," he said, his deep voice only showing annoyance. The girl tried to croak an answer, but no clear sound came out of her mouth. "Refusing to fight me means you are weak, and I have no use for weaklings."

His words were harsh, bringing tears to the girl's eyes more than his hand around her neck did. Then, the dark man pressed his free hand on her right shoulder, a burning pain stinging her as darkness dug into her arm, causing her to grunt. When the dark angel took his hand off, bringing the pain back with him, a white symbol was now showing on her shoulder, a weird pointy cross barring her skin. "Now you will go with them," the silver-haired man demanded, resting his green eyes back on the brown-haired girl.

"There are things I want you to discover. Do not disappoint me again," the one-winged angel ordered, his words sinking into Mary's head.

Then, the silver-haired man's gaze moved to Riku, who was slowly getting up from the ground. Just as the teen was standing, the dark angel swung the girl at him sending her to crash into the keyblader, making the two teenagers fly into a nearby wall, unconscious.

- - - -

He couldn't help but laugh, the deep ring of his laughter echoing on the walls of the Sandlot.

The success of his plan was absolute.

The bond would last, and his puppet would fill her use.

Her findings would make her stronger, and their bond guaranteed he would get his share of power.

He could not show her how satisfied he was; for it was not like him, nor would it serve his interests.

He had already done much for her. She would have been dead were it not for him.

That was more than enough.

The one-winged angel turned around, taking at look at what he had done.

Three keyblade wielders, a sorceress, a fighter and his puppet, all of them vanquished. The ruined walls that surrounded the square were a testament of his victory.

He couldn't help but laugh again.

Then he felt blinding light coming his way, brought by two pure hearted beings, as his purple dome faded down.

It was time for him to leave; other matters were requiring his attention.

His puppet was not the only one from whom he would get power.

- - - - -

Riku moaned as something pushed him, making his body, stiff with pain, roll on the harsh ground.

Struggling to open his eyes, the silver-haired teen could hear blurred voices and sounds surrounding him.

Then, a high pitched voice broke through the mist that shrouded his senses.

"Riku?"

It was familiar, comforting. It was not the first time this voice brought him back on the right path.

A gloved hand slid under his back and helped him to sit up as he was still trying to open his eyes.

"Easy, it's okay now."

The silver-haired keyblade wielder's eyelids finally lifted up, letting his aqua gaze fall on a caring smile and two wide, round ears.

King Mickey.

The teen cracked a smile.

"Your Majesty..." he croaked as he tried to sit straight, the mouse's healing spells quickly infusing him with energy.

"Good thing I came to check you guys out, wasn't it?" the King asked in a playful tone.

"Y-yeah..." he began as all the events that had just happened were sinking in. "Sephiroth!" he exclaimed, his aqua eyes opening wide as he looked around, searching for the one-winged angel.

The skies of Twilight Town were now a peaceful dark blue, the walls of the buildings surrounding the Sandlot damaged. Seifer's posse was all over the place, Mary a couple of feet away, and there was no sign of the dark angel anywhere.

"Gone," the keyblade king answered, calming his young friend down. "He disappeared just as we arrived," he added as he pointed to a young woman garbed in black at the other end of the square who helping Zell and Angela up.

"What about Sora and Kairi?" the young man demanded as his eyes fell on the place where his friends had fallen unconscious.

"We're okay," the brunette's voice rang, making his best friend turn his head a little to see the keyblade's chosen one holding his right arm and limping towards him, supported by the Princess of Heart. "... I guess," he added with a grimace as he stared at his broken wrist.

Mickey helped Riku to get up, and then stared at the Sandlot for a moment.

"Jeez, what a mess..." the mouse stated, making the teens feel sheepish for an instant. "At least you guys are okay," he concluded as he turned to face them, granting them with a supportive smile.

"What about you?" Kairi kindly asked Mary as Seifer and Rai were helping her up, causing her silver-haired friend to sulk.

That crazy girl was not even worth his friend's attention. She was weak, and probably deserved nothing else than a good beating, but as the darkness seemed to have left her for the moment at least, he would have no real reason to do it, so Sora wouldn't let him. All he could really do was give her a deathly glare, and wish they'd leave this place as soon as they could.

The brown-haired girl stared defiantly at the redhead for an instant, then shrugged and opened her mouth to say something, but Raijin's hand brushed her right shoulder, making her gasp in pain and jolt away form him.

"Ouch! Watch it, jerk!" she yelled, placing her hand on her mark as the dark-skinned young man apologized again and again.

"Here, let me see..." King Mickey told Mary as he stepped towards her, the girl obeying the kind yet weird-looking stranger.

- - - - -

"You got a problem, lamer?" Seifer asked Riku, folding his arms as he noticed the glance the silver-haired teen was granting his friend.

Yes, he had a problem. Because of Mary, his friends could have gotten killed, they had lost to Sephiroth and they ignored where he was.

She was the problem. She was crazy.

And he was pissed off.

The keyblader was ready to tell the arrogant blonde to shut up, but he felt Kairi's soft hand pass on his back.

She always knew better than anyone, even Sora, how to read Riku. She could always tell when he was angry, upset or sad. And she always knew how to make him feel better.

The kind touch immediately calmed him down, turning his sulking glare into a simple stare as he just ignored Seifer's remark, who seemed satisfied by the other teen's attitude change.

"You're mad," she stated, her voice so low only the silver-haired teen could hear.

"She's crazy. You guys could have died because of her," he replied, a bit of anger rising in his tone once more.

- - - - -

"Gosh! That's the Nobody's symbol!" Mickey let out in surprise, Mary hiding her arm once more, worried about what her angel had done to her, what a Nobody was, and what would happen to her. "What happened?" the king demanded, sounding actually more worried about her than angry or defiant.

"The man did this to me..." she answered, trying to seem clueless about who her one-winged angel could be. She managed to fool the mouse-king, but the girl could feel Riku's heavy gaze on her back even though he remained silent.

"Think it's dangerous?" Sora asked as he stepped at the other keyblade master's side, staring at the mark on the girl's shoulder.

"I don't know," the king declared, thoughtful. "We'd better ask Merlin or Yen Sid about this, they know more than me on those matters."

"Then let it be Merlin," Tifa joined in the conversation, followed by Zell and Angela, who seemed weary but okay. "Radiant Garden needs you back A.S.A.P.," she stated as she laid her brown-red eyes on the young keyblade master, who simply nodded.

"Alright then," he concluded, ready to leave Twilight Town, "just come with us, we know someone who can fix you up," he added, granting Mary a friendly smile.

- - - - -

Everything that had been happening lately had been weird, no point in denying that.

The skill of the skateboarders in the tournament was one thing.

No one could ever really do tricks like that. They were almost impossible.

Seifer knew it, because he wasn't able to do them, and there was nothing he couldn't do.

Then there had been that storm.

No winds could ever rise up that quickly, never had the skies turned that color.

Something had been up, something unnatural, because he had never felt this scared in his whole life, and nothing could scare Seifer.

Lost in the panicked crowd, confused about what was going on and why he felt that way, he had managed to find his posse throughout the mass that was carrying them far from the Sandlot. Escaping the crowd, they had found a peaceful spot, and regained their spirits. That's when Rai mentioned seeing Mary going towards the square. They were friends. They were a gang. They were a posse. They couldn't let her there on her own. So they went back.

To find the dome - a huge, thick, solid purple barrier that surrounded the whole Sandlot.

None of them had ever seen such a thing, there was no way they could break through it.

They concluded it was some kind of magic, because Seifer said so, and Mary was not there to argue.

Then, there had been the mouse-king.

They had never met him, or the woman with him, yet none doubted he was royalty. Something in his stance probably showed that. His arrival had been good news, because he cast off the magic for Seifer's gang with his giant key.

Catching a glimpse of a tall silver-haired man disappearing in a black and purple flash, they ran towards the place where their friend laid, unconscious, Riku lying over her. They had pushed the other teen off, and focused on their friend, who slowly came back to her senses. She was okay. They were still a posse.

But his friend accepting to follow that outsider for a mark on her shoulder was across the line.

"What?!" Seifer let out, shocked to see Mary accept Sora's offer. "You're not gonna go with them losers, are you?" he asked her, giving her his opinion of the idea.

The brunette seemed to hesitate, as if she was not certain it was what she wanted, but then she turned around to face her friends, her resolve set.

"You heard him. They can help me get rid of this," she declared, her tone unaffected, as she pointed the mark on her arm.

"You could just live with it," the blonde answered.

"Or not," she argued for the last time, turning around as she cut short the conversation, careful not to take a look at her friends, who were shocked, vexed, sad and angry to watch her turn her back on them.

"... Fine," the young man declared, pretending not to care, before turning around and exiting the Sandlot without looking back, taking his gang back with him.

They were a posse. They would probably still be when she'd come back.

Yet Seifer couldn't help but feeling sad and angry, as if some part of him just had been ripped away.

- - - - -

Riku's fists clenched as he saw Mary accept Sora's offer, turning down her own friends.

"I say we shouldn't bring her with us," he muttered to Kairi in a low tone. "She's trouble."

"And leave her here just like that as she needs help?" the red head demanded, surprised by her friend's reaction.

"Why not?" the silver-haired young man replied coldly. "She doesn't deserve our help. She tried to kill you. She gave in to the darkness and she's probably gonna do it again."

The Princess of Heart turned to face her friend, a severe look on her soft features, and Riku immediately regretted saying those words.

"So what? Everyone can make mistakes. You should know," she answered back, her voice as kind as usual.

The young man sheepishly looked down.

Of course he knew. But he badly wanted to forget it.

Maybe that's why he was so angry at the brown-haired girl.

"She probably had what seemed like a very good reason to borrow some of the darkness' powers, and just got lost on the way," the girl continued, smiling as her friend's teal gaze met her blue eyes. "I know. It happened to a good friend of mine," she pursued, now grinning widely.

"What happened?" the silver-haired teen asked, returning the girl's smile.

"His friends helped him, and he found his way back," she concluded with a wink as she turned around to catch up with Sora and the others.

_To help her, __huh? That's easier said than done._

- - - - -

"What a day!" Zell proclaimed, stretching his arms as the group made their way across the Sandlot, following King Mickey.

"Can't wait to get back home and in this comfy bed of mine," he added, folding his arms behind his head.

Her friend mentioning home made Angela stop dead in her tracks.

She would have to tell him, she would have to ask him, and it'd have to be now.

The simple thought of it made her terribly nervous.

"About that..." the sorceress began as the blonde skateboarder gave her a worried look.

"What? Something happen to my place while I was gone?" he asked in a slightly panicked tone that made the girl giggle.

"No, no, it's not that," she reassured him, then stayed silent for an instant. 'You know we went to talk to Yen Sid earlier today, right?" The man nodded. "Well... he told me I was not from this place, and so were you," she simply declared.

"We know all that Angie. Someone would have recognised us if we had been from here."

"I know, but he said we were from another world Zell. Not just another town or country, another world!"

The martial artist remained silent for a short moment, deep in his thoughts.

"He's sure of that?"

His raven haired friend nodded.

"Well... That would explain a few things... Like your sorceress' powers and all that..." the fair-haired man said, trying to understand everything his friend was telling him.

"Yes..."

She paused for an instant, desperately searching for her words, for the right way to tell him.

"... Yen Sid... He wants me to go find my home world..."

"What? Like right now?" the blonde asked, overwhelmed by what was going on. "But how? And why? This place is nice, we're happy here..."

"_You_ are, Zell," Angela interrupted, harder than she wanted to. "I...You know I've never really felt at home here, with everyone treating me like some kind of monster. I know you're happy, and that it's the life you want, but I want... I need something else, something more... I..." she stuttered, trying to find her words, before simply giving up. The raven-haired young woman lifted her dark brown eyes to meet with her friend's sky blue gaze. "I'm going to go with them," she declared, her voice terribly sad, as she pointed Sora and his friends, who were a bit farther down the Sandlot. "Yen Sid said they could help me find my home world."

"That's really what you want?" Zell demanded softly after a moment, but he knew the answer too well.

Unable to make a sound, sadness knotting her throat, the young sorceress nodded silently, and then started to take slow backward steps, not wanting to turn her back on him, to say goodbye just yet.

"I see..." he continued, his voice lowering. "Guess there's only one thing left to do then..."

Say goodbye.

Of course he wouldn't come with her. She had been foolish to think he would give up his life here.

He was her best friend, and she'd never see him again.

She quickly turned around to hide the tears that formed in the corner of her eyes.

_Goodbye Zell. _

_You were the best thing there was in this whole world._

_I'll miss you..._

The words couldn't come out, but he would always be in her thoughts, she promised herself as she walked towards her new friends, the ones that would take her away from this world that had never really been hers.

- - - - -

The sound of footsteps beside her almost made her jump.

"Think they'll have a seat for me?" Zell asked, his arms folded behind his head.

Angela's brown eyes widened in shock as she stared at the blonde for a moment. Then, a blissful smile enlightened her features. She jumped at the fair-headed man's neck, and hugged him so tightly he could hardly breathe, the both of them laughing happily.

"I-I thought you wouldn't want to come..." she said as they broke the embrace, the tears flowing down her cheeks now tears of joy.

"C'mon Angie! Do you even know me at all?" he asked her with a wide grin. "Someone has to be there to take care of you," he continued, more softly now, as he kindly wiped the tears that were rolling in the sorceress' face.

"Let's go," the young woman said, happier than ever.

Then, the two of them started to make their way towards the rest of the group, who was now patiently waiting for them at the other edge of the Sandlot.

"And besides, I can't stay here. All of the good skateboarders are gone! I need some competition, baby!"

- - - - -

Staring out the window, sitting in a seat of this so-called Gummi ship (_that mouse has probably never seen a real gummi in his life, _she thought bitterly), surrounded by people that were neither her friends or people she wanted to be with, Mary found nothing else to do than to sulk.

This day was hell.

She had lost the skateboarding competition, and the person that made her lose was sitting just a few seats in front of her.

She had disappointed her guardian, the only person that ever cared for her, and the only one she's ever cared for.

To make up for that, she had to leave her home and her friends.

She had pretended not to care, and not to see how Seifer was pained and angry to see her turn her back on them. There were a posse. You're not supposed to (_you can't_) turn your back on your posse.

She would probably never talk to them anymore.

Now she was stuck with a giant talking mouse, the witch, the asshole that made her lose the tournament, his oh-so-perfect friends, the stupid skateboard champion and a woman she knew nothing about and didn't want to know either.

And they were headed for a place called Radiant Garden.

She hated the place as soon as she heard the name.

Radiant Garden.

_Sucky name,_

_sucky place,_

_sucky day._

_...Worst day of my life._

* * *

And that's it people! The Spring Break is really over now...:P and to say I expected to make just one chapter with the the first ones... oh well...

So the next chapter should be shorter, updated as soon as I can, and Leon's gonna be in it!!!!!

Got anything to say? Please REVIEW!!!! I heart reviews.


	5. Chapt 4 Leon Alone

**Author's note:** OMG!!!!! UPDATE!!!!

Yes, I still live. Sorry it's been so long since the last update. I started back school again (and so did my beta), so it took me longer to write, and for her longer to correct it. So this chapter isn't betaed yet, but it's been in my computer for a while and I just couldn't wait any longer :p. So, the chapter won't look exactly like the other ones, and might hold mistakes in it. Please bear me .

As for the chapter itself well... a reference to Avatar: The Last Airbender in the title ( i looooove that show :p)... big end of ff8 like moment XD...and eum...

Leon for you fangirls out there ;)

Edit:  The update has been made, and here is the final version of the chapter.

* * *

Kingdom Hearts :

Waltz of Memories

**Chapter 4**

**Leon Alone**

He didn't know for how long he had been here, or even how he arrived there in the first place. It seemed like he could have been here for years, lifetimes; eons, or maybe it was just a few seconds ago. He didn't know why he was there, or even where he was. All he knew was the grey nothingness that surrounded him. He was standing in a vast, endless, dull, grey plain. It seemed to go on forever, far beyond the light grey horizon.

Nothingness, as far as the eye could see - a place so empty that time itself meant nothing.

Empty, except for his presence, which didn't seem like much, even to himself. His body and his mind felt terribly numb, distant from his own self. He felt shallow, incomplete, and meaningless; his own life meaning so little he was forgetting his thoughts the second they left his mind.

He stood there for an instant, a while, an eternity, before a flash of light broke the nothingness of the landscape. Not much, just a little nothing, whiter than all that surrounded him, far in the distance.

Something.

There was nothing else, so he started to walk. He took a step, then another, then another, surprised he remembered taking the previous one, his steel blue eyes fixed on the light that shone so far away.

He walked. He couldn't tell for how long. Time didn't seem to exist here. Neither did distance, he noticed. The place seemed all the same, the landscape never changing, whether he walked or not.

His efforts to reach that something that irradiated in the horizon felt vain, but he kept walking. There was nothing else to do. And, strangely, it made him feel better, the motion slowly clearing the mist around his mind. His body was still numb, but at least he could remember he had walked, and that he was headed for the light.

The light. He wondered what it was. Hope, if nothing else, and it was the only thing he needed.

It was more than enough. So he kept walking.

- - - - -

He walked for a long time (or just a little while, who knows) before starting to hear them.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The sound was a bit blurred, but the voice was definitely familiar, its echo surrounding him. It was a man's voice, low and cold, and his tone was demanding answer.

_What am I doing?_

He quickly tried to find something to respond.

He wasn't doing anything. He was walking. He was trying to get to the light, to find his way back home.

He opened his mouth, ready to give an answer, but another voice spoke before him, just as familiar.

"Leaving. Why should you care?"

He had heard that voice before, he knew its owner, he was sure of it. His mind raced as he desperatly tried to remember the man who spoke with this voice.

But, just as he was about to remember, he appeared a couple of feet for him.

Cloud Strife.

The blonde seemed irreal, his shape too etheral to be true, yet his presence felt more real than anything he had crossed in those empty plains.

Ignoring Cloud's irritated look, he reached out for him, eager to touch him, to feel something else than the numbness of his body. He streched his arm, aiming for the soldier's shoulder, but just as his gloved hand should have made contact with his padded shoulder, it just sled through, as if Strife was made of vapor, the hand through his body barely blurring his image.

"...Cloud," he croaked, his own voice sounding weird yet familiar to his ears, as if he had forgotten it. The evanescent man made no sign of recongnition; he just kept staring in the distance at something only he could see.

Then, a hand appeared on the blonde warrior's shoulder, and pushed him as the low and cold voice echoed once more, clearer this time, and filled with contained anger.

"...And just where do you think you're going?"

That voice.

He knew then why it had been so strangely familiar the first time he heard it.

It was his voice.

Slowly, an arm attached itself to the hand that had appeared on Cloud's shouler, and a whole body started to appear in front of Strife, just as etheral.

A tall young man, the bridge of his nose barred with a long and thin scar, with brown hair that reached his shoulders and steel blue eyes that stared angrily at Cloud.

Squall Leonheart. Leon. Himself.

It felt wierd to him, staring at himself like that, but at least now he remembered. He remembered his name, who he was, what he looked like.

And he knew. He couldn't tell how he knew it, but he was certain this was it. He knew why the figures standing in front of him couldn't hear him and why he couldn't touch them.

It wasn't that they weren't real, for they were.

It was just that the scene Leon was staring at, this something in the middle of this field of nothingness, this argument that was ignorant of his spectator was, in fact, a memory.

He couldn't recall this happening, and yet he couldn't doubt the nature of this evanescent vision.

It was one of his memories.

He coldly stared at the scene, surprised by his own anger, until the two vaporous figures faded away as the brunette whispered something Squall couldn't make out. The memory was over, but he was still there, surrouded in grey emptiness. So he turned towards the light, and continued to walk.

- - - - -

They were routine now. The memories.

He had walked for a long while now, he could tell. He felt the fatigue crawl in his still numb body. But he kept walking, for a little fatigue was nothing to him. He could walk for days if he wanted to.

He kept walking, not even stopping to stare at the memories anymore, for he had realised the scenes would follow him when he tried to run away from a memory he didn't wanted to see. He hated to see Aerith cry, and even more when it was his fault.

Those memories. He remembered some of them clearly; while others seemed so unfamilliar he would have believed they belonged to someone else if he wouldn't have been in the middle of them.

And they seemed to have an order. It was as if he was going back in time, every memory older that the previous one.

His own body seemed to follow them as well, even though he could never interact with the visions.

Every time a memory surfaced, Leon would turn up to look exactly like his etheral copy. Even though it confirmed him that he really was linked to the scenes that kept passing in front of him, it made him worry that even his own presence was nothing more than another memory, ignoring itself.

But worrying wouldn't get him out of this plain, nor get rid of the numbness of his body, so he walked, step after step after step, towards the light that stil seemed so far away.

- - - - -

That light. He now feared what it could be, yet he kept walking towards it. It was the only way out. The more he thought about, the more the only plausible explaination scared him.

He was walking towards a blinding white light, his tired body numb and distant, and was seeing his life once more.

He didn't want to admit it to himself, but he was a reasonable man, and knew better than to give in to fear.

_I'm dead._

The simple thought of it made his body, that now looked like when he was twenty-one, shiver.

It hadn't been painful (he couldn't even recall how he died), and the worst part was, most likely, over, but it had been so sudden and unexpected (he hadn't even realized he was dead until just now) that Leon just couldn't believe it, yet it seemed like the truth.

_If th__is is death, then it's boring as hell_, hethought as he kept pushing his tired body towards the light that was definitely getting closer.

- - - - -

_Maybe__ I am just a memory after all,_ he thought while taking another step, each one of them becoming more and more difficult.

He was dead now, a memory inside the heart of others. Younger, the simple thought of it had made him freak out. He even had promised himself not to let it happen.

But the seventeen-year-old teen had grown, and, even if he now looked like he was nineteen, the man he now was (or, had been) had made peace with the idea.

Being a memory had its advantages. When people are alive, they tend to take each other for granted, but memories need to be cherished, or they fade away.

He would be remembered. He would be mourned and missed.

That's all he could really ask for.

His friends would keep him alive in their hearts.

His friends.

He would probaly miss them, but not now, for they were all around him, walking alongside him as the memories he held of Traverse Town surrounded him, a bunch of teens sitting on the ledge of a wall in a world of refugees.

The eight-year-old Yuffie, jumping around, practicing her ninja moves and saying how she would rid the worlds of the heartless with the strengh of her arms and the blade of her shuriken.

The young Aerith, eighteen, sitting on the wall, listening to the younger girl and smiling softly, radiant in her white and blue dress, even in this world in shambles.

Strife, seventeen, a year before he left them, sitting right next to the green-eyed brunette, a thoughful and indifferent look on his face, pretending to ignore the fact that the girl was holding his hand.

The twenty-eight-year-old Cid, popping his head out the window, and yelling at Aerith to come and help him with the dinner, which, judging by the smoke that was coming out the the opened window, was burning.

Himself, nineteen but acing like he was forty, leaning on the wall, arms folded on his chest, trying to hide the grin on his features as the echoes of Cid's swearing reached his ears.

The intemporal Merlin, passing down the street, coming to their rescue with a simple flick of his wand, ordering Cid to be more careful, causing the two men to argue loudly, which made the teens giggle everytime.

His friends, his family.

He would miss them.

He kept walking, even though it took him all his strengh just to take a step forward, for the light was very close now, and he could see a figure standing in it, a human shadow, bathed in this blinding light.

- - - - -

Taking a simple step was so hard now that he doubted his own death.

He felt terribly tired, so tired that he didn't know how he could still stand. It seemed to him he could collapse at any second. He was also incredibly dizzy. His head was spinning so fast he couldn't even walk straight.

And there was this weight. It felt like he was carrying something very heavy, when he couldn't even carry himself. It was pulling him back, restraining him, slowing his already slow pace.

He couldn't keep going for much longer.

And, judging by the last memory he saw, and the way his hair was combed and the clothes he was wearing, he was only seventeen.

He wasn't even halfway through.

How could death be so hard?

He was dead already, so why was it so hard for him to move on?

And the light – it was everywhere now.

It was blinding.

He was almost there, he could see through the whiteness.

He could see a world - a happy world. With wide fields of flowers, majestic castles and children laughing everywhere, a soft piano melody accompanying their laughter. His friends were there, young and innocent, playing and laughing carelessly.

Heaven, with a sense of familiarity.

Home.

_Could I be there already?_ he wondered. He couldn't go much farther, but wasn't there another half of his life he should be seeing?

The figure he had seen earlier was still there, standing in the light, closer than the rest, waiting for him.

He could see it was a girl. A young teenager, garbed in a summer dress of the purest white, her long, dark hair was floating in the wind, and it seemed she was looking at him. But the light was too blinding, and Squall couldn't make out her face.

He couldn't say where it came from, but then he felt an urge to go to this girl, to see her, to touch her. This wish, this desire, this longing was so strong that he ignored everything else.

The fact that he was on the verge of exhaustion. This part of himself that kept wondering why it was over so soon, and where the rest of his life had gone.

None of it mattered anymore.

_Just a little closer_, he thought as he gathered all his strength to take one step towards her.

He was about to collapse.

He took another step.

He could see her eyes now - dark brown, soft, comforting.

He was almost there now.

It was too soon, there were things that were missing.

He stepped forth once more.

He was so tired.

Another step.

Her smile was warm, and her face - beautiful.

She was an angel.

He smiled back, and then took another step.

It was the end.

He was home.

"Squall."

Two hands landed on his shoulders, and pulled him away, away from the comfort, away from heaven and its angel, away from the nothingness, and into the dark.

- - - - -

It was like being plunged into an ice cold bath, or waking up from one of those nightmares that give you the impression of falling.

When Leon opened his eyes, his body leant forth in a great gasp for air and he was standing in the middle of his room, back in Radiant Garden, looking twenty-six once more.

Calming down his racing heartbeat by taking deep breaths, he looked around.

Cloud was standing to his right and Tifa to his left, just a step in front of him, staring at something in front of them. In fact, all the members of the Radiant Garden's restoration comitee were crowded in the room, even Sora, who had his right arm in a sling, accompanied by his two friends, and his Majesty, King Mickey himself. There were also three people he didn't know, a short blonde guy, a brown-haired teen and a dark-haired young woman, who was talking to Merlin and the young keyblade master.

His friends were there, just like in the endless plain he had crossed. But it was different now.

They seemed very real, not like the etheral memories that had accompanied him through the nothingness. They were moving, gesticulating, talking, but Leon couldn't hear a sound, as if someone had cast a silence spell on the room, or maybe just on his ears, for they seemed to understand each other just fine.

Just like he had done in the grey plains, the first time he met one of his memories, the brunette streched his arm, aiming for Cloud's shoulder pad. His hand simply slid through the piece of armor once again, but this time, it was him who wasn't consistent enough to reach his friend.

Looking down on himself, Leon realised that he was now the one looking unreal. He had the same vaporous aspect his memories had not long ago, except that it wasn't a memory now. He was certain this was for real.

Then, the thought struck him.

It was ridiculous, he tried to convince himself.

He had never believed in those kinds of things.

And he wasn't even sure if he was dead or not anymore.

But the absurd idea stuck to his mind.

_A ghost?_

He had never been the spiritual type, but it wasn't really what he had in mind for his afterlife.

He didn't really have the time to reflect on the thought though, for something was going on in the room.

The dark-haired young woman, the one he didn't know, handed something to Merlin. It looked like a necklace with a pendant. Looking more closely, Leon realised it was not a pendant, but a simple silver ring. The young woman seemed uneasy about it, but the wizard looked confident in what he was doing. Then, the old man turned to Sora, who handed him another silver ring, but this one seemed to have markings on it. Merlin added it to the necklace alongside the other ring, and suddently, the ghostly brunette realised that it was his ring, his griever ring, they just added to the necklace.

_What are they doing?_ he wondered, more curious than anything.

He just stood there, staring as the young woman walked away, and Kairi helped the keyblade's chosen one to attach the necklace to his key. The weapon transformed in a flash of light, turning into beautiful silver keyblade, made of wings, hearts, feathers and shooting stars, his griever symbol ornating the top of the handle.

Even in the vaporous state he was in, Leon could sense the magical potency of the keyblade.

Merlin turned to Sora, who nodded. The old wizard made a sign to someone in the room (he couldn't tell who it was), and then it happened.

Sound came back to him.

A terrible scream, loud and filled with pain, blasted his ears, breaking the silence he had been plunged in. It was deafening, and yet the nature of the sound was worse than its volume.

It was the shout of a tortured man, a cry filled with so much suffering it was almost unbearable.

And it was his voice.

The shock wore off, and Leon stepped forwards, his evanescent body passing through Cloud and Tifa. Then he saw what he couldn't see before, for it was hidden by his friends' bodies.

The source of the scream – him.

He was sitting on his bed, shouting and twisting, the waves of pain causing his body to shake, his features distorted by his suffering, his brown locks damp with cold sweat. The raven-haired young woman was sitting behind him, holding him up and restraining him as he struggled, desperately trying to fight off the pain. He was screaming, crying, begging, and pleading for his suffering to end in an incomprehensible moan of agony, tears flowing freely down his cheeks.

Staring at himself through the mist of his memories had been strange, slightly awkward, but this had nothing to do with it.

He felt pity for his own self, and shame, for being the source of this feeling he was too proud to ever desire.

Leon turned away as his body yelled in pain once more.

_Just end this quick._

He was better dead than like this.

Then Merlin seemed to say something to Sora. The teen nodded, and then extended his left arm and the silver-winged keyblade towards Leon's tortured body.

Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breaths as a ray of light burst from the keyblade, and flew straight into the man's chest.

The screaming stopped at once and the gunblader's body stiffened.

And, for the first time in as far as he could remember, the vaporous Leon that stood in the middle of his room, staring at his own death, felt something. It was like a hit in the chest that left him out of breath. He was starting to feel again. The numbness he felt for so long was fading, leaving a comforting warmth and an acute pain to fill its place.

A unlocking sound echoed in the room.

Then, air rushed back into Leon's lungs as he felt soft hands pull him back once more, a comforting whiteness surrounding him as he fell.

- - - - -

_Whiteness all around him._

_And warmth. And comfort._

_He tried to open his eyes, but he was so tired._

_There was a presence._

_Reassuring. Familiar._

"...Sis?"

_A short, small laugh. So soft_.

"Not quite..."

_He struggled to open his eyes._

_Gentle, dark brown eyes, smiling kindly._

"...What..? ...Where..?"

_A delicate, soothing hand brushing his forehead._

"Shhhh... It's okay now. It's over. Rest."

_He tried to keep his eyes open__, but he was so tired._

_The whiteness surrounded him again._

_And he gave in._

- - - - -

Leon opened his eyes, and realized he was standing. He was no longer that tired, either.

Everything was still white around him. The warmth and the comfort were still there too, even though not as strong as they were before.

_What now?_ he wondered, looking around.

Then he felt them behind him.

He turned around to meet two blonde teenagers, a boy and a girl. She was wearing a plain white dress, and was greeting him with a kind smile. The boy seemed more indifferent, his sky blue eyes simply staring at the man.

He had never met these kids, but something in them reminded him of people he knew; especially the boy.

"Hello," the girl said simply, while the boy remained silent.

There was something about him. Those eyes were the color of the bluest sky. This round face, marked with an expression that seemed almost too serious for him. The way he stood; straight, even though it could seem like he's carrying the weight of the worlds on his shoulders.

"Sora?" Leon asked the young man, whose frown only deepened.

"It's Roxas," he answered harshly.

_He looks just like him_, the man thought.

The girl turned to her companion, and smiled to him in a scolding yet encouraging way, before retuning to the brunette that was standing in front of them.

"I am Naminé."

The gunblader kept a frown on his face. Something was odd about those two, besides the fact that they looked like Sora and, now he saw the resemblance, Kairi, but he just couldn't pin what it was. Perhaps it was the fact that they simply were there, when nothing else was.

They kept looking at him, patiently waiting, and Leon realised they were expecting him to say something; though he had a feeling they already knew his name.

They were here to give him answers.

Questions quickly rushed in his mind, but one had been bothering him for far too long to wait any longer.

The steel-eyed man looked away for a second, his arms folded on his chest, and then turned back to the teens.

"Am I dead?" he asked in a rather detached tone that still couldn't hide his apprehension of the answer.

Roxas snorted and Naminé giggled softly.

"No, you are not dead," the girl affirmed gently, and Leon felt a relief so great it was

almost physical, as if the frail teen had just taken an enormus burden off his shoulders.

"You got close enough, though," the boy said matter-of-factly.

"You are resting now," Naminé added with a smile.

The brunette nodded, gladly letting the idea sink in, causing his mind to bubble with new questions.

"Where am I?"

Roxas turned to his friend.

"We are, to put it simply, inside your heart," Naminé explained.

Leon's frown deepened. She wasn't making much sense. Then again, nothing made sense lately.

After all, he had just crossed a vast grey field filled with memories until he collapsed and ghostly stood in the middle of his room and watched his own body agonise. And now he was most likely standing in his own heart, surrounded by whiteness, and talking to two teens that were much like friends of his, but yet different.

_Yeah, right, whatever._

The answer didn't really satisfy the man, but he had more important question to ask, so he

decided to push away this one and get to the one that bothered him ever since he found out he wasn't dead.

"What happened to me? What's going on?"

The two teenagers exchanged a glance.

"Long ago, someone placed a lock on your memories, to protect your heart from something," Roxas began; too vague for Leon's taste, but the man held his tongue for the moment, and listened to what the blondes had to say.

"It worked well, until recently, when you started remembering things that where close to this lock," Naminé continued. "Memories are linked, just like a chain, so, one after another; the remembering process was pulling on the chain that is your memories. But the lock served as an anchor, keeping the memories it guarded from surfacing again."

"Meaning?" demanded Leon, tired of the half-explanations he was getting.

"Your memories, and your heart, were being teared in two by the opposing forces of the lock and your recalling of your memories," Roxas explained, cutting in the details.

"I see," said Leon, thoughtful.

"But don't worry," continued Naminé, "the lock has been undone now. You are free to remember."

"Remember what? What is it that's been locked away? What is it that I've forgotten? Why?" Leon asked, the questions coming out as soon as he thought them, eager to understand everything, feeling that the two teens didn't have much time left.

"We don't know," interrupted Roxas.

"It'll be yours to find out," declared Naminé with a kind smile.

It wasn't the answer the gunblader wanted to hear, but it was the one he expected.

"What if I don't?" he said, more out of frustration than curiosity.

"It's your memories. You do what you want," Roxas replied.

He wanted to leave, Leon could feel it clearly. He needed to strech time a little. He still needed some answers. He shouldn't have wasted time on such a foolish question, frustration or not. The brown-haired man took a deep breath.

"Do you know who did it? Who casted this lock on my memories?" the man demanded calmly, making the blonde girl smile gently.

"We do," she answered simply. "It was Merlin, the wizard."

The response was a shock.

_Merlin?_

_Why?_

The steel-eyed gunblader remained silent, his mind racing to find a reason why Merlin could have done such a thing, and why he never said anything about it.

In front of the man's silence, the two teens started to back away, thier pale faces, hair and clothes slowly fading in the whiteness. They were almost gone when Leon realised they were leaving.

"Just one more thing," he said, making the teenagers stop.  
"What are you?" he dared to ask, even if a part of him already knew the answer, even if he had never met the likes of them.

"Nothing," responded Roxas as he continued to fade.

"We're Nobodies," concluded Naminé before she disappeared, leaving the man alone.

The brunette nodded, the blondes comfirming his thoughts.

Then the whiteness took over once again, plunging the man in its comforting warmth.

* * *

... Now... How many of you thought I had killed him?? eheheheheh 

Anyway, that's it for this time. More action is planned for the next chapter, but I don't know how long it's gonna take until I finish it... 'been quite busy latetly...

Hope you liked it, and I'm waiting for your **comments!**:p


	6. Chapter 5 Altered Truth

Author's note:

_Here it is at last, a new chapter!!! Sorry it took forever... school is taking ALL my time... I had planned this chapter to be longer, but I made you guys wait long enough, and the second part is rather long too..._

_I'm posting this chapter unedited too, so bear the mistakes and tell me if you see any... _

_Not much to say about this chapter, it's more of a set up for the one to come... the only thing I'd say it that I had no idea for the title, so I'm willing to change it if you guys come up with a better one ;)_

_Anyway, here it is... _

**

* * *

**

**Kingdom Hearts **

**Waltz of Memories**

**Chapter 5 :**

**Altered Truth**

Cloud breathed out deeply as he sat down at the kitchen's table. Their guests were all gone to bed (_they all were exhausted_), King Mickey had left (_he was a busy mouse, and had important affairs to attend to_) and Leon was sleeping in his bed upstairs _(resting and no longer dying on them). _

Everything was okay.

Everything was back to normal.

Yet something was still on his mind, keeping him from sharing Aerith, Cid and Tifa's relief.

Sephiroth.

The man was up to something, the blonde soldier could feel it, his mind boiling with unanswered questions.

Why did he go to Twilight Town?

What business did he had there?

Why did he attack Sora and his friends?

He could wonder all he wanted, but the only way he could get his answers would be to ask the One-winged angel himself.

A soft hand on his shoulder distracted him from planning any further.

Aertih smiled at him kindly as she handed him a cup of tea, before sitting next to him.

-'Thank the worlds, it's over.', she said in a low voice, trying not to wake Angela up, who was sleeping on the couch in the next room.

-'You said it.', simply added Cid before starting to sip his tea.

-'Poor Leon.', said Tifa. 'Good thing Mickey and I found Sora before Sephiroth did anything radical.'

Everyone nodded, and Cloud's mind wandered again on the dark angel's motives for an instant.

-'Good thing Angela was with them too.', stated Aerith. 'Who would have known she would be of so much help?'

-' Merlin did.', grunted Cid. ' Why do ya think he sent Sora to Yen Sid's for?'

-' Not that again...', protested Tifa as she rolled her eyes, not wanting to hear the man

complain about the wizard once again.

-' Ignore it at much as you want. That old geezer always know a damn lot more than what he tells us,' pursued the grumpy mechanic.

-' Leon's safe now,' Aerith cut in,' that's the only thing that really matters.'

Cid sulked, staring down at his cup of tea, and the small group remained silent for a while, lost in thoughts as they drank the warm beverage.

The moment of silence was interrupted by a soft moan, a delicate echoe of a dream, comming from the living room.

-' How long do ou think they'll stay?', asked Tifa, a strangely sad look in her eyes, as her gaze left the shadow laying on the couch.

-' Zell and Angela?', demanded the green eyed brunette to her friend, who nodded. The older woman shrugged. ' I don't know. Angela mentionned that they were looking for their home world, so I suppose they'll be leaving as soon as they can,' she answered, Tifa's undefinable sadness taking on her too as the words left her mouth.

Where was that comming from? she wondered.

-' What's with ye two?', said Cid with a frown on his face as he noticed the girls' strange

attitude.

-' I... I don't know...',replied the dark haired fighter as she shrugged, trying to shake off the feeling that seemed so out of place.' It's just that... well... they... they just arrived, and... I don't know, they seem nice... so maybe they could...', she begun, searching for the words to define this sensation she couldn't replace.

-' Drop it.'interrupted Cloud as he put down his cup and got up. ' Let them do what they have to do. Let them leave.' His words echoed with his own wish for departure, and then the young woman knew what it was she was feeling. It was the same sensation of loss she felt whenever he left.

'We have our own problems to deal with,' the fair headed soldier added as he started to head for the stairs.

-'What do you mean?', asked Aerith.

-'Leon. He's gonna be a royal pain in the ass when he'll wake up.'

- - - - -

Mary laid down in the bed made for her in the second guest room, eyes wide opened, staring at the ceiling.

Her body was exhausted, but her mind just wouldn't allow her to rest, her thoughts racing one another endlessly.

Everything happened so fast. They were all buzy, they all had better to do and all she did was stand in the way, and still they gave her a bit of thier time, smiling and being nice (_way to damn nice_). They looked at her wound, made sure it wasn't anything dangerous and tried to figure out what it was precisely and how it got there.

The outside was the nobodies symbol, marking some part of every being's soul ( _or something like that, she didn't get it all_). Seemed it was made of darkness, but her body wasn't reacting to it, as if it had accepted it somehow ( _she restrained herself from grinning as the wizard said those words_). They admitted they were clueless about why it was like that and how her angel marked her like that, but mentionned researches had been made in this world concerning darkness and nobodies, and that she was welcome to stay here to look for the answers.

They had been honest, polite and friendly, the mouse king and the wizard, smiling and helping her as they could.

And yet, she was angry.

Angry at them.

Even thought she had no good reason, even thought they did nothing wrong.

She was angry at their smiles, smiles that only Cid and Edea could have.

Angry at thier incompetence, a king and a wise man knowing so little and acting so big.

Angry at her angel, Sephiroth, they called Him, for letting her in the dark like that.

Angry at the witch girl, who had been so useful when all she could do was stare.

Angry at the brown haired man who was dying, getting everyone's attention.

Angry at Sora for being so damn important.

Angry at Riku cause he made her lose.

Angry at Siefer, who tried nothing to keep her.

So angry she was shaking.

Angry at her own stupidity because she had no good reason to be so angry in the first place.

_''You're pathetic''_, she said to herself, trying to calm down.

Things weren't exactly going as she had expected them to, but she'd have to deal with it.

She'd have to find her answers herself. To search this ruin of a castle and to find what it was her guardian angel wanted her to find.

To show Him she was worth something.

A delicate knock on the door broke the silence of the dark guest room.

_''Who the hell would come knocking at such an hour??_'', wondered Mary as she sat in her bed.

A soft whisper came from the corridor, barely audible.

-' Come on Kairi! What are you waiting for?'

It was Sora's voice.

Sheets moved in the bed on the other corner of the room, and the shadow of the young princess of heart crossed the chamber slowly, stopping when she saw the brown haired girl's shape in the dark. Kairi changed direction an came to sit on the other girl's bed.

-' I'm gonna go spend the night in the boys' room.' she whispered. ' We're not gonna do anything, it's just that I sleep better when they're around.' she added as she saw the brunette's interrogative frown. The two girls stared at each other in the dark for an instant. 'You can come if you wanna...' the red head proposed kindly.

-' No thanks.'

Silence fell on them again for a moment. Then the room's door cracked open slowly, Sora's spiky shadow visible in the opening.

-'C'mon Kai!'

The girl nodded to her friend and turned to the other girl.

-'You're not gonna go tell on us, right? Merlin always makes a fuss about it.'

-' I won't.'

-' Thanks.' she smaller girl replied with a kind smile. 'Goodnight then.' she added before

getting up and making her way out the room.

The door closed silently, leaving Mary in the dark, alone.

Lonely.

For an instant, she thought about telling Merlin, but she dropped the idea.

It wasn't like her.

She was just a bit jalous.

Or angry, most likely.

Angry at herself mainly, because the more she thought about it, the more she thought she should have stayed in Twilight Town.

- - - - -

Angela woke up to the smell of eggs, toasts and coffee with her back making her feel like she crossed Twilight Town on her hands with an oversized chocobo tied to her feet.

Stretching as she was sitting up on the couch, she heard all the bones in her back crack loudly.

-' Good morning!' said Aerith, turning from the kitchen's oven as she heard the crunching sound.

' How are you feeling?' she demanded kindly, but the soft smile on her face showed she already knew the answer. There was a reason they called the red couch the Back-Killer.

-' Terrible honestly.' the raven haired woman answered, laughting as she got up.

-' I always say yer better sleeping on the ground than on this piece of crap.' came Cid's voice from the base of the stairs. The man walked through the kitchen and poured himself a big mug of coffee.

-' Up already?', demanded the brunette, surprised, as she served the young sorceress with eggs and toasts.

-' Don't have much of a choice. The kid snores like a behemoth with a pneumonia!' grunted the blonde mechanic. It would be the first and only time he'd let that blonde headed brat sleep on the extra bed he had in his room.

Angela giggled.

-' Yeah, I forgot to warn you about that. Sorry.'

-' I guess we're even now. Nobody told ya about Back-Killa there', the man replied pointing the couch before taking a bite of toast.

-'Alright then.', the raven haired woman giggled once more, her soft smile contagious.

A small craking sound came from the stairs as Tifa entered the kitchen, fully dressed in her dark leather garb, ready to start the day.

-' This early?', she demanded with surprise when saw Cid sitting at the table as she saluted the other girls.

The mechanic grunted and stared down at his coffee cup.

-' Ye got a problem with that?'.

-'No, no.', said the dark haired fighter, grinning as she grabbed a plate and sat down at the

table. 'We didn't have much time to talk yesterday,' she begun as she turned towards Angela,' but now we do. So, do tell, what's your story? Pretty sorceresses like you don't pop up to save dying guys everyday here, you see.', see added with a encouraging and friendly smile while Aerith joined them at the table, also eager to know more about thier visitor.

Friendly smiles around a nice table with a good breakfast.

It was more than she expected.

And yet it was everything she wanted.

So she told them the little there was to tell.

Her amnesia, the mystery surrounding her appearance in Twilight Town, growing up there, being Yen Sid's student. Everything there was to tell.

And they listened, interessed in knowing, her audience growing as the inhabitants of the house were waking up. Zell joined in the storytelling too, adding details to the young woman's words.

(-'... and so I...'

-' Don't forget to mention how awesome I was!!!'

-' Oh yeah!... and Zell was awesome.'

-' More than just awesome baby!!!! I was brilliant!!!

-'... Just get to the point.'

-' Awwww! C'mon Cloud! I know you're dying to know how awesome I was!!!'

-' ... Not really...')

And so, before she knew it, there was nothing more to say.

-' ... and well, the rest is still to come I guess.' the raven haired woman concluded, shrugging as she smiled.

-' Yep! We gotta find that home world baby!', proclaimed Zell with enthousiasm.

-' Wow... I really hope you'll find it...', replied Kairi.

-'Will do! But... know that I think about it... how are we gonna look for that home world?? I mean, we can't just go there by foot now can we?', the blonde skater demanded, suddently worried.

-' Don' tcha worry about it, kid.', declared Cid with a grin. ' I've got it covered. I can get ye yer own gummi ship ready to take off before the end of the day.'

-'Really?', asked Angela, hopeful and surprised.

-'Yep.'

-'Awesome!!!', shouted Zell as he got up from his chair.

-'Why don' tcha go take a walk around town meanwhile? Might not look like it, but I'm sure those kids have betta to do than just sit around and chat.' said the mecanic has he got up from his chair and headed towards the door.

-' Well... actually... as long as Leon's asleep...', Tifa begun, blushing a little.

-'Arrrrgh! Do I have to remind ye kids of everything?', grunted the older man as he turned back. ' Who's gonna show that girl around and help her find the data she's looking for??', he demanded, pointing Mary, who was sitting quietly alone on the couch, eating the rest of her breakfast.

Radiant Garden's restoration commitee looked at each other, no one saying a word, none of them very eager to be the sulky girl's guide for the day.

-' I'll do it. I've only been around town a couple of times, but I have a good memory and a good sense of direction, so we should be okay.', said Riku as he got up, earning himself a deadly glare from the brown haired girl and an interrogative look from Sora. ' You gotta recover anyway, and I don't feel like sitting down all day to watch your wound heal.' he added looking at the keyblade master with a grin.

-'Well, that's settled! Come see me once yer done, so I can teach ya a bit of piloting before ye head out.' Cid said to Angela and Zell before leaving the common house.

-'Alright baby! Let's go do some exploring!!', declared the blonde young man, energetic as ever.

-'Alright!', the sorceress chimed in, as both of them headed out.

-' Come to say goodbye before you leave!!', shouted Yuffie.

-'Sure thing!', said the raven haired sorceress, her silouhette dissapearing in the frame of the door.

-' Those guys sure are nice.' proclaimed the young ninja.

-'Yes.', added Aerith with a kind smile.

-'...I think I'm gonna miss them...', continued the dark haired teen.

Without a word, Mary got up, brought her plate back in the kitchen, and walk out of the house .

-'Well... I guess that's my cue.', said Riku with a smirk.

-' Riku...', Kairi begun with a worried look on her face.

-' I know, don't worry. I just wanna try to help her, like you guys helped me.'

On that, he saluted his friends and followed the brown haired teen.

- - - - -

The silver haired teen jogged to catch up with Mary.

-' I don't need your help.', said the girl as soon as Riku arrived by her side. ' Go away.'

-' Really?', replied the young man with sarcasm.

-' Yeah.'

-'Which way is the castle?'

-' I'll find it by myself.', she answered without even looking at him.

-' It'd be faster if you'd just let me give you a hand.' The skater girl stopped in her tracks

and turned to face the keyblader with a mean look in her eyes.

-' What is it that you don't understand in: I don't need your help go away?'

-' I'd say the reason why.'

-' Get lost.', the teen declared before starting to walk forth again. Riku sighed and followed her.

-' Look, I know we didn't start it right yesturday, and were just about to do it again. How about we just forget about it and start over?', he proposed with a smile.

He wanted her to forget yesturday, to forget the fact that he and his friends tried to harm her angel?

_''Yeah, sure... NOT!''_

-' Go away.', she simply responded before fastening her pace.

The silver haired teenager sighed again.

_''This is gonna be harder than I though... much harder...''_

- - - - -

The duet arrived at a rather vast opened space, located at the end of a giant fissure that

splited a crystalic mountain in two.

-' Dead end... I told you we should have turned right... you and your intuition...'

-' Hey, hey Angie! My intuition almost always right!', protested the blonde young man to his compagnion.

-'Yeah well now your intuition got us lost.' replied the raven haired sorceress with a grimace.

-' See it on the bright side,', he said with a smile as he walked casualy towards the edge of the natural plater they were standing on, ' we have a nice view to enjoy, and we can stay here a little longer.'

The young woman walked up to his side.

-' Yeah... I know what you mean...' The two of them remained silent for an instant, staring in the distance. ' You like it here too, don't you?' Angela demanded softly, breaking the silence, saying what had been on her mind ever since the let the Restoration commitee's common house.

-' Yeah! I mean, this place is awesome, those guys we met are so nice, and not just with me, with you too! And... well... I dunno, this whole world is just great!' he confirmed with a wide smile.

-' I... I was thinking.. maybe... maybe we could just.. you know... stay here...', the sorceress proposed shyly, uncertain.

Her friend suddenly became serious and turned towards her.

-' Angie, I understand how you feel, totally. But this is the first place we've come to, and even thought we've been around town, we have no memories of this place. If we just stay here. without even looking for our home world, we'll just end up having regrets about it later on, you know? We have to search for it, even if we never find it!'

The young woman's cheeks turned bright red as she lowered her head, the wisdom in the young man's words making her shameful of her idea.

-'O-of course... I didn't see it that way... You... You're right.', she declared raising her head back again, her eyes now blazing with determination. 'We've got to look for our home. This place is nice, but if it isn't home, if we can't get back any memories, then this place will end up being just another Twilight Town.'

-'Right!', replied the blonde, his wide smile back on his face. ' And well, with the ship Cid'll give us, we'll be able to come and visit here every now and then, so we've got nothing to lose!'

-'Yeah!' added the young woman, her enthousiasm fully back. ' Alright, let's go! Let's get our memories back. Let's find where we belong!'

-'... Need some help?' demanded a deep voice behind them, making the duet shiver in fright as they recognised the owner of the voice and the darkness surrounding him.

- - - - -

-' You really aren't gonna leave, are you?', asked Mary, more than just annoyed, and, even if she wouldn't admitt it, completly lost.

-' Oh! You're done ignoring me I see...', replied Riku, who had almost given up hope, a taunting tone in his voice.

-' Fine then...', sulked the brunette leaving her follower on the ledge where he was sitting.

-'Why don't you just tell me what you're looking for?' he shouted without even getting up.

She stopped walking and turned around to face the silver headed teen, grinning. She was lost and had nowhere to go, and he knew it.

She just couldn't tell him what she was looking for.

She didn't want him to know she was looking for her angel.

She didn't want his help to find Him.

And, above all else, she didn't want him around when she would finally find her guardian.

Yet, there she was, clueless about where to go, and he was the only person around to help her.

-' Because that's none of your business. The last time I checked you weren't there to investigate on me.', she answered, folding her arms on her chest. ' I should be the one asking questions here.'

The other just smiled, then jumped off his ledge, landing next to her.

-' About time! What do you want to know?'

-' Just get me out of this fissure place.'

- - - - -

He woke up to the touch of a fresh and soft hand brushing his bangs off his forehead.

-' ... Sis?...'

-' Welcome back little brother...', answered Aerith's soft voice.

Leon slowly cracked his eyes opened, blinded by the light, his head hurting and his body terribly stiff.

-' I'm older than you, remember?, he moaned has he finally opened his eyes and took a look around.

The young woman was sitting on a chair next to his bed, smiling at him kindly, looking happy and relieved.

-'How are you feeling?' she asked him, ignoring the remark that had become a taunt between them over the years. The age and the time had never mattered. He would always be her little brother, no matter what.

He brought a hand up to his head, which, according to the pain, was probably just about to explode.

-' I'm fine...', he said. It wasn't a complete lie, seeing how he almost died not long ago.

Waking up with just a head ache was more than he would have expected.

He struggled to sit in his bed, grunting as every muscle he moved sent waves of pain straight to his head.

-' Don't strain yourself!' the woman protested, getting up to stop him from sitting.

-' I'm fine.' he replied, pushing her back, his jaw shut tigh to hide the pain.

-' Take your time, really. You're not fully healed yet.', she pursued, trying to get him to lay back down.

-' Don't worry, 'rith, I...', the steel eyed man begun as his head ache was slowly fading away.

-' AH HA!!! I knew it!!' came an high-pitched voice from the hall. A shadow passed through the room in a flash, and Leon was pinned back down on the bed. ' I knew I had heard your voice!'

-' Yuf...aarrh'

-' Leon's back on the track!! Wahoo!!'

-' Y-yuffie...!', the man moaned again as the ninja who was sitting on his stomach kept jumping around in enthousiasm, leaving him out of breath and with an amplified head ache.

-' I knew a little heart thingy couldn't get you!!

-' G-get... her... o-off..'

-' Stop that or you're gonna kill him for real this time.', said Tifa as she grabbed the young

girl by the collar and lifted her off Leon's lap.

-' Thanks Tifa...', the brunette grunted, glad to be finally freed from the teenager's exces of happiness.

-' Oops... Sorry about that Leon!', apologized Yuffie as she chuckled.

The gunblader slowly sat back up in the bed, stretching to try to get rid of the stiffness of his body.

-' Woah, take it easy!', proclaimed the dark haired woman as she saw him move.

-'It's okay. I'm fine.' he repeated.

-' So... wanna know what happened to you?', asked Yuffie, eager to explain him the concept that took her about an hour to assimilate.

-' Actually, I already know.', he answered, leaving the three girls speechless. ' I need to talk to Merlin. Is he still here?'

-' Well... yes... but I think he's gonna leave soon. He said he had some business to attend to in other worlds today...', said Aerith after moment, still a bit surprised.

-' Want me to go get him??', demanded the young ninja.

-' No, it's alright. I'll go find him.', the blue eyed man replied as he started to get up from

his bed, his head ache fading off slowly.

-' Leon, I really don't think...', the brown haired woman begun, but he just showed off her

protests.

-' Don't worry, I'm fine.', he said once more as left his room, leaving the three women even more worried.

He was just feeling a little weak, and his head ache was leaving. There really wasn't anything to made such a big deal about. Besides, he had much more important things to do than lay in a bed.

It was time he got some answers.

- - - - -

-'There you go Miss. Out of the Crystal Fissure, safe and sound.', declared Riku as the two teens finally arrived back in town. ' Anything else you wanna know?', he asked Mary with a satisfied smile.

The girl rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to snap back with a remark when she felt it.

A strong wave of darkness, comming from behind them.

Not just any darkness. It was His. She was sure of it.

The two teenagers turned around swiftly as they both sensed the dark wave.

-' You felt it too?', the silver haired young man turned to the girl, who simply nodded.

Her angel was there, right where they just came from.

Him.

Sephiroth.

She had to get to Him.

-' Guide me to it! Quick!', she ordered her teal eyed compagnon.

-' You shouldn't go to him. He means nothing but trouble.', Riku protested, suddenly very

serious.

-' Shut up! You don't know anything!', the girl angrily snapped back. ' You're the guide so just lead me there. Hurry!'

The young man was ready to reply, but decided to keep quiet for now and to comply. There was not point in arguing with her now, she wouldn't listen to a word he'd say. He'd just do what she asked for now, and he could always stop her if anything should go wrong.

-' ... Alright, fine. We'll take a short cut this time. Follow me.', he said as he started to run

back in the Crystal Fissure, quickly followed by the brunette.

- - - - -

By the time Leon got to the kitchen, the stiffness of his body was mostly gone and his head ache had srinked down to easily bearable proportions. He arrived down the stairs to find a very bored Cloud playing cards with Sora and Kairi in the living room, and a happily humming Merlin, waving his wand to magically clean up the kitchen.

The blonde solider saluted the gunblader with a silent nod while the two keyblade bearers

cheerfully waved to him. The brown haired man granted them a small bow of the head and walked straight towards the blue garbed wizard.

-'... Merlin.', the young man begun, his voice startling the old magician.

-' Oh!... Ooh! It was you Leon.', said the wizard has he quickly turned around, surprised. ' I see you are doing better now.', he added with a sincere smile. ' But do you think it's wise to be out of bed so soon?'

-' Don't worry about that, I'm fine.' the blue eyed man answered, showing off the old man's worries like he had done with everybody else. ' Merlin, there is something I want to ask you...'

-'Y-yes, what is it you want to know?'

The brunette took a deep breath.

-' It was you who casted this lock on my memories, wasn't it?', he asked, expecting the elder to be surprised by the question. Yet, Merlin remained perfectly calm, a kind, soft and sad smile on his face.

-'Yes, it was I who did so.'

-' Why?', the gunblader promptly asked, his frustration leaking in his tone more than her would have wanted it to.

-' Well, my, to protect you of course!', the wizard answered, keeping his calm and kind attitude, which only made the younger man's frustration increase.

-'From my own memories?' Leon protested, skeptical. ' This doesn't make any sense.'

-' No, no, no. It does. You see, you weren't strong enough to face them back then. They became dangerous, and in the end, I had to seal them. But, now, I think you are ready to remember.', the old magician affirmed with a smile.

-' Then tell me. What is it? Tell me what it is I have forgotten!', the young man demanded

eagerly, his usualy cool attitude shaken.

-' I'm afraid I can't do that.', Merlin responded simply as he started to gather his things.

-'Why?', the brunette asked, surprised, as his gathered frustration kept increasing.

-' Well, simply because such things cannot be recalled this easily. You'll have to discover them by yourself, otherwise they would just lose their meaning.', the magician explained patiently the smile on his face never wearing off.

-' Arghh! But I don't have time for that!', the young man let out angrily, more to himself than to the older man. ' There still more than half of the castle that need to be restored and...', he begun, pacing around.

-' Well, I'm afraid those things'll have to wait.', affirmed the blue garbed wizard as he started to make his way towards the door, the raised tone of his voice calming the younger man down.

-'... And what if I don't?', he demanded in a provocative tone has he passed his hand on the scar on his forehead, his cool tone bearly containing his frustration.

He was being childish again, just like with the two nobodies. He knew it and yet he couldn't stop the words from comming out. He was looking for answers, and all he got was riddles who did nothing but feed his anger.

Merlin stopped on his tracks and turned back towards Leon.

-' You really should. It is something important and very precious that you have lost here. It would be a shame to give up on it without even trying.', the old wizard said in a compassionate voice as he placed a hand on the young man's shoulder.

On those words, the magician turned away, saluted the rest of the inhabitants of the house, who were now all gathered around the kitchen, ready to leave.

-'Merlin!', the brunette called once more, his tone calmer this time, and the magician turned back. 'How... How important?', Leon demanded, a hand on his scarred forehead, eyes closed and his brow frowned as he was bracing himself for the answer while desperatly trying to remember.

The elder had a compassionate smile.

-'Something you were willing to die for.', he declared, his voice revealing the wisdom often hidden behind his clumsiness, and then dissapeared in a flash, leaving the gunblader even more confused that he was before talking to him.

_''Damn it!''_

He already had too many things to deal with. The restoration of the castle that the whole town was looking fowards to, keeping a eye on Yuffie to make sure she stayed out of trouble, asking Tifa to go check on Cloud every once in a while, trying to lend Aerith a hand as often as he could, making sure Cid was happy enough so he wouldn't complain all the time... Protecting them.

_This place. Their home._

_Home_.

It seemed so empty all of a sudden. He tried to recall the way this place was before, to remember things the way he did before this whole heart incident, but the more he looked at the memories he had, the more obvious it became.

They were false.

Incomplete.

Too blurred to be real, like a picture someone had modified.

An altered truth.

Lies, blended with bits of truth until it was plausible, yet to vague to be real.

And he believed it.

He had been lied to, and he believed in those lies, putting all his hopes in rebuilding a world that in the end was nothing more than a fake memory.

_How trustful._

_How naive._

_How stupid._

His fist slammed a wall, liberating the anger that was building up inside him, the sting of the pain helping him to clear his mind, the gesture gaining him even more worried looks from him friends.

_Home?_

At the moment it seemed like nothing more than another lie.

Leon took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

He had been an idiot, as believing and trusting as a child, but some things still had to be true, to be real, or the lies wouldn't have been this easy to take in.

There had to be some memories that were real.

Aerith's worried voice broke the silence.

-'You should go get more rest Squall, you don't have to put yourself throught all thi-...'

_Squall._

Squall was a shadow from the past.

A memory that wouldn't fade away.

Squall was probably just a lie.

The words escaped his mouth before he could even think about it, a bad habit that became a bad reflex fed by his misplaced anger.

-'That's Leon! And for the hundredth time, Aerith, I AM FINE!', he shouted, turning towards her to see the shock in her viridian eyes as they started to water.

_Leon._

Leon was the fake he built from weakness and excuses.

A coward, hiding the truth because he was unable to face it.

Leon was his biggest lie.

Real or not, Squall would never have screamed at Aerith.

Angry, confused and disgusted by himself, the brown haired gunblader stormed out of the house, unable to bear the speechless stares he was getting, leaving everyone worried and shocked.

The rest of the Restoration commitee stood in silence for a long moment, eyes fixed on the door.

-'... What was that?!?!', Yuffie busted out, breaking the silence, as Cloud approached Aerith, whose cheeks were barred by a couple of tears that were flowing down slowly.

-' It's probably sinking in right now...', the blonde declared while brushing a hand up and down Aerith's back to comfort her.

-'Sinking in..? ... You mean, for the memories?', demanded Tifa, uncertain.

The young man nodded.

-'No one here put as much energy as him into rebuilding this place.'

-'Right... Finding out about the altered memories has to be a chock, especially for him.', the dark haired fighter agreed.

-'Think he's figured out about us?', asked the young ninja.

-'How it affected us as well? Probably not.', responded Tifa.

-'Yeah... you're right... Too busy working on the angst and trying to do everything on his own to realise we're in this with him.', stated the dark haired teen, discouraged.

-' Yuffie!', said Kairi, surprised.

-' What?! He does that okay!'

-' Hate to say it, but Yuffie's right.', declared Cloud simply before brushing a tear off Aerith worried face then heading for the door.

-' Going to knock some sense back?', demanded the leather garbed fighter to her friend.

The blonder soldier nodded silently and opened the door.

-' Told you he would be a pain.', he said as left.

- - - - -

He didn't go very far.

He had nowhere to go.

Those kind of problems could not be out ran.

Leon stood on the remains of the castle's gate, staring at the Crystal fissure, his head ready to explode. He took many deep breaths, trying to calm himself down and to clear his mind.

_"Think Leonheart! Think!"_

Everything couldn't be a lie. Some things had to be truth. Or at least it is what he was trying to convince himself of.

But doubt still lingered. What if there was no truth to be found? No answers? What if he had been lied to all along?

Merlin, Cid, Aerith, Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie.

Had they all lied to him? All this time? Could the friends he had protected for so long ever do such a thing?

Cloud's voice rose from behind him, startling the brunette.

-' It affects all of us as well.', he said casually, answering to the gunblader's silent

question. 'You're not alone in this Leon.'

The blue eyed man took a long breath out, his friend's words bringing him back to his usual calm.

They had not lied to him.

Some things were still true.

He was not alone.

A strong wave of relief washed away his doubts and fears.

-'When?', the brown haired young man asked calmly as the blonde leaned on the small wall next to him.

-' Not long after Sora and his friends came to visit. Aerith was reminising, and she realised there was something wrong with her memories. She asked us to try to remember precise stuff from before this world collapsed.', the shorter man responded staring at the distance.

-' Blurred memories that seem incomplete, though you can't say why?', Leon completed.

-'Yes.', answered the teal eyed young man.

Then a moment of silence installed itself between them. Cloud knew what the others expected him to say to the brunette, and he would do it, but he couldn't help but feeling the roles got inversed somewhere on the way. He was usually the one to run away, banging the door behind him to get a lecture from Leon later on.

'I know I'm the last person who should be telling you that, but... you shouldn't try to handle everything by yourself.', the blonde young man said in a obliged tone that still couldn't hide a bit of concern.

The gunblader turned towards his friend and granted him a deathly glare.

-'I'm not gonna take that kind of comments comming from you.', he declared in a cold tone, not comfortable with this role switch either.

The solider rolled his eyes.

_"Figures_.", he told himself.

-' I'm even surprised to see you're still here.', pursued the steel eyed man in a bitter tone

that had nothing to do with his altered memories. ' Though you would have left as soon as I was out cold.', he continued, turning to stare away in the distance. ' You seemed in such a hurry.'

-'I would have.', answered the younger man honestly in a neutral voice. Leon's deathly glares and angry tones had no more effects on him. 'But it seemed like you were going to die, and Aerith demanded me to stay.'

-'And you actually listened to her this time...', cut in the taller man, his words tainted with a sarcastic surprise.

-'...But now that you're back up, I have no more reason to stay, so I'll leave soon.', continued the blonde stoïcly, ignoring the other's interruption.

The two of them remained silent for a moment.

-'And where are you gonna go?', asked the gunblader, his tone free of bitterness and sarcasm this time.

-'... Don't know.', Cloud replied after a moment of reflection. Which was absolutely true. He said he wanted to leave soon simply to frustrate the older man, but in fact, the thing he wanted to do the most right now and that had been on his mind for a while now was in this world. He had to go see Sephiroth to ask him a few questions.

-'... You could always stay you know.', retorqued Leon calmly.

-' And end up like you? No thanks.', the soldier answered coldly, granting himself another

deathly stare from the other man.

-'... whatever.'

The men silently stared at the horizon as the sun was warming up the beautiful afternoon of spring in Radiant Garden.

-' Seriously,', Strife begun, breaking the silence with a cold tone that showed bits of anger,' you're really feeling okay?'.

-' Argh! Don't you start! I am...', the brunette responded angrily.

-' I'm not talking about that!', cut the fair-headed man before pursuing.' You yelled at Aerith. You screamed at her. And it's nothing recent, you've been edgy and frustrated for weeks now. Even I noticed it. You're starting to scare the girls.'

The truth in Cloud's words struck the blue eyed man.

He had screamed at Aerith, who was the most kind and generous person in the worlds, the girl he considered a sister. And not only that. He remembered seriously shouting at Yuffie a bunch of times in the past weeks, giving Tifa unnecessarly bitter and angry remarks, arguing with Cid more than the usual and being rather cold and mean with Aerith. The worst was he could remember doing those things, and yet had no idea why he had been this way, or even why he didn't realised by himself he was being so stupid.

-'... I... I-I... I don't know why I...', replied the gunblader, confused, an accentuated frown

on his features as he tried to understand his own behaviour during the previous weeks. '... Maybe the tenth years of the destr-...', he started, not convinced by his own answer.

The blonde warrior sighted loudly.

-' You need to get laid.', he stated in a discouraged tone.

His words left Leon speechless and shocked.

-'... WHAT?!', the brown haired man bursted out as he turned to face his friend, not believing what he heard.

"_He didn't dare.",_ he told himself, shocked, but the slight grin on Strife's face was saying

otherwise.

-' You. Need. To get laid.', the blonde repeated, unaffected by the treat in the older man's

voice.

The gunblader blushed slightly and opened his mouth to snap back, but a strong wave of darkness suddenly rushed the castle gate's remains.

It was very powerful, and familiar.

And it was comming from the crystal fissure.

-' You felt that?', demanded Leon to his friend as he grabbed his gunblade.

-'Sephiroth.', simply replied the fair headed man, pointing the far end of the fissure, where dark clouds started to gather.

Without a word, the two of them ran down in the fissure, swords in hand.

* * *

_That's it for this time!_

_Next chapter will have some serious action XD._

_Comments please!!! I absolutely love them!!!!_

_http://rinny09. on download to see Mary in 3D!!!_


	7. Chapt 6 Angels Collide

'

**Author' notes : ** Hey there! It's been a while :P Sorry for the slow updates, but school takes a lot of time... Anyway, this chapter's got one of the fights I love the most, and I really hope I've managed to make it as awesome to read as it is in my head. I strongly recommand One-Winged Angel, Advent children version as the song for the fight, it really inspired the scene to me. Aside from that, well... this version is again not edited, so tell me if I've there are mistakes I did not see. Go read now!!

* * *

**Kingdom Hearts:**

**Waltz of Memories**

Chapter 6:

Angels Collide

'... Need some help?'

Angela and Zell quickly turned around upon hearing the low and somber voice behind them, thier heart skipping a beat as they laid thier eyes on the dark garbed man.

Sephiroth, the One-winged angel.

His darkness was so thick that even the duet could smell it's foul odor, and the sinister

soldier's eyes were filled with pure, cold-hearted hatered that made the young sorceress shiver.

-' You!!', the blonde skater let out in shock.

The man smiled evilly, his long silver hair floating in the wind that was slowly rising.

-' Surprised to see me?', he asked in a fake polite tone.

-' What do you want?', demanded the young woman harshly as she stepped forwards, trying her best to hide the fear that was creeping up her bones.

The dark angel's twisted smile only widened.

-'You wanted to regain your memories, did you not?', he replied, opening his arms, making Zell and Angela frown even more. ' I will help you to do so.', he pursued.

-' We don't need your help!!', the raven haired sorceress cut, but the tall, somber man ignored her.

-'My way, however...', he continued calmly,' does not imply that you will both survive.'

The one-winged angel's words made the young fighter's blood turn cold.

'Your death should be enough to bring back the memories you long for.', he concluded, his teal eyes fixed on the blue garbed woman as he stretched his arm out, darkness gathering everywhere around him, darkening the skies, the air and the ground, concentrating itself in the man's opened hand.

-' Angie, you gotta run. I'll distra...', Zell begun in a low voice while getting in a fighting

stance, gathering all his strengh and courage to ward off the aura of fear that surrounded the dark angel.

-' No! I'm not gonna leave you! You're not gonna fight him alone!', she sorceress protested with all the force she had, but the blonde young man knew her enough to see that she was even more frightened that he was. Yet her fighting stance was steady and her eyes looked resolved, and he would need all of the support she could give, because despite of his bravado, he didn't really think he stood the slightest chance against such an opponent.

A long and thin blade materialised itself in Sephiroth's plam.

-' Die. Die and remember.', he declared gloomily as the wrapped his hand around the handle of the Masamune.

The skater steadied his stance and prayed to the worlds that they would both make it out alive, then cleared his mind of all worries, leaving him focused and aware as a rush of supportive and protectives spells flowed upon him like a wave, Angela's magic making his blood boil again.

The tatooed young man hitted his fists together, stared at the One-winged angel for a moment, feeling his friend's presence beside him, then rushed towards his opponent, eager to make the dark man regret his words.

Zell's fist flew toward the silver haired man's chest, missing it by a few inches. He was fast.

Terribly fast. Side stepping lightly, almost as if he was dancing, Sephiroth slipped throught the rain of fire spells the young sorceress was launching at him, and tried to make his way to the spellcaster.

_'' I can't let him touch her!!''_

The blonde fighter sprinted towards the tall man, forcing him to dodge a kick, turning him away from the dark haired macigian. The sinister angel was quick, and even if the haste spell was helping,speed had never been the skater's strengh. But if he could just land a couple of well placed hits...

Taking advantage of the close range, he threw a few punches before the winged man swung his long sword, forcing him to step back, his protect spell taking most of the damage.Blasting a powerful Blizzaga, Angela lunged at the silver haired angel, taking the opening he created when he deflected the magic with his weapon, and striked as hard has she could.Sephiroth vanished the instant her fist should have made contact, and reappeared a few steps

away, only to be assaulted by Zell again.

The young man jumped, punched, ran, kicked, but all his effort were vain for the One-Winged Angel easily dodged the attacks, striking back every now and then with a fling of his sword. The young sorceress joined her friend, both of them attacking from every side, trying to corner the man, who avoided their hits with arrogant ease.

_''He's just toying with us!''_, the tatooed skater realised with anger as a blow of the Masamune pushed him back, damaging the protective magic that was rapidly wearing down.

The blonde watched his opponent as he graciously slided through Angela's quick strikes.

Then he saw it, just as he was about to jump in the fray once again.

An opening when Sephiroth dodged.

He was letting them see his arrogant smile.

Just what he was looking for.

Zell rushed straight at the man. Leaping to avoid the blade that was swung at him, he launched a couple of punches as soon as he was within reach. The teal eyed soldier avoided them easily.

As expected.

The skater could not help but grin.

He fainted another hit, intentionnally missing it by a few inches, getting in stance for his next attack, one that would hit this time.

He quickly looked up, his michevious smile defing the dark angel smirk.

Then he striked.

Leather made contact with skin, sending the tall man a couple of feet back, wiping the smirk off his face.

Then another hit, a mighty kick square in the chest, pushing him to the other end of the plate.

When Sephiroth looked up, he wasn't smiling anymore. Staring at the blonde with terrible hatered, he frowned before running at the duet that was standing before him with no intention of hold back anymore.

He teleported from left to right as he was rushing at them, so fast thier eyes could barely

follow, and attacked.

The young fighter jumped to avoid the sword flung at him. The One-Winged angel appeared in front of him before he touched the ground.

A swing of the Masamune sent the young man flying, his protecting spell absorbing the damage.

Then the man jumped in a flash, rejoining Zell in midair. He smirked at the young fighter scared look.

He striked. Once, twice, so many times, too fast for the eye to see, vanishing then appearing all around the powerless blonde, each of his hits greatly weakening the protect spell.

Until it broke with the sound of shattered glass.

Angela, helplessly staring from the ground, readied another spell, but the silver haired man was faster.

One blow. Quick and precise.

Straight through Zell's right knee.

-'Zell!!'

Sephiroth grabbed the young man by the collar and pulled him close.

-' You will remember. Watch.', he whispered with an evil smile.

Then he threw the blonde in one of the crystal cliffs, sending him to crash with a moan in a cloud of dust while he landed gracefully in front of the sorceress, keeping her from running towards her wounded friend.

-'Zell!!', the young woman screamed once more.

She tried to run past the one-winged angel, but he side stepped, blocking her way once again, his long and sharp blade pointed at her.

-'Know that I will enjoy this.', the silver haired man declared darkly, his hatered filled eyes set on the blue garbed sorceress. 'I have always thought monsters like you are better off dead.', he pursused, the venom of his words striking Angela in the heart.

_A weirdo._

_A freak._

_A witch._

_A monster_.

Different words that all went down to the same thing.

She was alone.

Her strengh, her courage, her stance fell apart, and the fear she had kept at bay up to now crept right back.

She would die here today, like monsters should.

_Alone._

-'What do you want from me!?', she shrieked, frightened, tears flowing down her cheeks.

Her desperate call only made the dark angel's smile wider.

_How could people ever look up to those beings? _

_Sorcerers. Guardians of the light and protectors of the worlds?_

_They were weakness as far as the eye could see_.

Sephiroth slowly readied his sword, ignoring the grunt that came from the pile of rubble being him.

-' ..Angie...'.

The voice shook the young woman from her stupor. A small ray of hope breaking the darkness that surrounded her.

Zell.

He was still there, and he needed her help.

She wasn't alone.

-' Power!', the One-Winged angel replied before lunging at the raven haired magician, who barely dodged the attack.

Still a bit unsteady, the young woman tried to refresh her supportive spells, but the man's

lighting fast hits kept her from focusing on anything else than the deadly blade. She was somehow able to keep up with him, the adrenalin and the magic flowing in her veins pushing her to the limit, but he left no opportunity for her to strike, and she didn't know how much longer she could dodge the long weapon he swinged with so much ease.

Seeing an glimpse of an opportunity, Angela striked, but her silver haired opponent catched her move, and counter-attacked, the Masamune landing a powerful blow on the woman's protect spell, shattering it to pieces and sending her flying meters away.

The young sorceress managed to retablish her balance and landed on her feet. Leaving her no time to replace the broken spell, Sephiroth rushed back at the dark haired magician, whom, seeing him charging, had but one thought in mind.

_'' Don't let him touch you.''_

Jumping and rolling around to avoid the sword's sharp edge, her lungs burning from the effort, the surrounding darkness so thick it was suffocating, she pushed her body harder as she felt her haste spell fading slowly. The one-winged angel pursued his attacks with a fast and steady pace without showing the smallest sign of fatigue.

_''I have to keep going...''_

She leaped over the blade as her haste spell vanished, then ducked, rolled and got up in a flip.

He was waiting for her as she landed.

_''He's too fast!''_

He cut her tigh, deliberately making the wound too shallow to keep her from standing, yet deep enough to make it hurt at every move she'd make.

Angela yelped as the sharp metal dug in her flesh.

Her hands flew to her wound while he calmly stood next to her, smiling sadicly.

He stared at her for a moment, frail, small, hurt and out of breath.

_''Pitiful.''_

He waited until she looked up at him, taking pleasure in the fear he saw in her dark brown eyes.

-' Let us begin now.', he said in a satisfied tone that made the girl shiver in fear.

The rest was nothing but flashs of darkness surrounding her, attacking her from every side, blade and fists mixed while all she could do was scream out of pain.

Just when Angela thought she could not take anymore hits, it was over, a kick sending her flying feets away, where she rolled in a cloud of dust.

She laid there, face down, begging her every muscle to move, to get back up before the sound of Sephiroth's footsteps got any closer. All in vain, for the pain was all too much for her to endure.

-' Is this really all you've got?', asked the One-Winged angel in a dissapointed voice, slowly walking towards the vanquished sorceress.

Depair mixed with the veil of pain that was covering the young woman's vision as the man was getting closer.

_'' I... I can't die here...''_

The silver haired man readied his blade as his victim was almost within his long sword's reach.

-'So weak.'

He raised the Masamune, eager to finish her off and to obtain the power he desired so ardently.

Then something strange happened, making him halt his motion.

Angela's body started to emit a pure white light, her wounds healing at an incredible speed while she got on one knee, her left hand reaching for one of the pins that held her hair up. Grabbing it firmly, she took it out and swiftly dug it into the ground, unleashing a powerful blast of light.

When she got up, her body showing no more signs of damage, in her left hand laid a sharp pistol-handled sword. The sorceress looked up at the dark angel, her eyes glowing slightly.

-' You have seen nothing yet.', she declared in a calm and detached voice that looked almost like a trance as she raised the gunblade and pointed it towards the man.

Sephiroth brushed off his surprise with a confident smirk.

The two opponents stared at each other for an instant, then rushed, the shap metal of the blades colliding, separating and clashing again. The sorceress mouvements were no longer incertain strikes of self-defense but an harmonius motion, so gracius it seemed she was dancing effortlessly, the swords meeting each other at every fling.

The One-Winged Angel attacked again and again, with the same fast and steady pace he had used, yet the young woman parried them all, sliding,leaping and twisting, and replied to them with skill and precision that matched his own.

It didn't take long for the silver haired man to figure that, whatever happened to the

spellcaster, she was no longer on the same level as before.

The gunblade flew towards him, but instead of blocking the hit, the dark angel vanished,

reappearing in the woman's back, striking swiftly with a swing she barely managed to block.

Increasing his speed, he teleported again and again, all around her, her newfound haste almost unable to follow the man's motion, forcing her in a defensive state. Waiting for and opportunity, Sephiroth striked in dark flashes, pushing her around until he found her unbalanced.

Then he swung his blade, putting more power in the stirke than usual. Angela parried the hit, but it's strengh sent her flying a few meters away, one knee on the ground.

Without hesitating, she reached out to her hairpins once again, taking another one out and

plunging it in the ground, unleashing a bright flash that revealed another gunblade, the

dark-handled revolver contrasting with the pure silver of the sword. The two weapons in hand, she rushed towards her ennemy quickly.

The dark winged angel vanished in front of the incomming strike, appearing on the sorceress's side, where a gunblade was passively waiting fir his attack. The swords crossed, then the young woman rapidly counter-attacked, her dual blades allowing her to protect herself and reply to the man's attacks.

Swords collided, the blades creating sparks as they met, the opponents running, attacking and blocking at an amazing speed as Zell brushed off the last debris of crystal from him. His damaged knee keeping him from getting up, her could do nothing but stare powerlessly at the duel.

Sephiroth blocked, attacked, vanished, attacked and blocked again when something unexpected happened.

An explosion, as the swords clashed, sending him a few feet back.

Staring at the magician's weapon, he saw her finger release gentely the trigger.

_Gunblades._

He should have known.

Feeling a rush of adrenalin in front of the challenge, he lifted his hand towards the sky,

stretching his long dark wing.

Rushing at the dark haired woman, he fainted a strike, and vanished before contact, reapearing behind her where a gunblade was waiting for him. He attacked, then, instead of parrying the counter-attack, he dodged it by jumping.

As the jump reached it's peak, he flap his only wing, enjoying his position as he stared down at the sorceress, hovering meters above the ground.

-'Beg for mercy.', he declared gloomily as he begun to prepare a dark spell.

Sensing the silver haired man's intention, Angela leaped without wasting a second.

Halfway throught the distance that separated her from her ennemy, the last pin holding her hair up fell, dissolving into a white light that transformed itself into a pair of wide, snow-white wings.

She flew towards the one-winged angel, gunblades in hand, her long dark locks flowing in the wind, heaven's wrath embodied, and the man could not hide his surprise.

It seemed he had under-hestimated her.

But it would not matter, for he had his own trunk cards, and his spell was complete.

He readied the Masamune and lunged towards her, the champions of light and darkness metting in a clash that echoed through the plate.

Zell could barely see them any more. All there was were flashs of black and white, crashing and colliding in the somber sky that kept growing darker and darker.

They clashed again and again, until Sephiroth backed away, a wide smirk on his face. He lifted his hands to the sky, and stared down at the angel with hatered in his eyes.

-' It's over.'

Then, dark purple meteors started to fall from the heavens, all descending on the young woman.

The incapacitated blonde saw his friends block the firsts with her swords, but then the rain of stellar rocks became so swift and so thick she was completely surrounded, hidden from the skater's eyes.

-' ANGIE!!'

The dark meteors fell down for long seconds, and when the spell finally ended, the place where to sorceress stood was nothing but a large boulder of accumulated rocks.

The One-Winged Angel laughed sadicly, then raised his head to the skies, eyes closed, as if he was waiting for something.

_''Power!''_

He suddenly lowered his gaze quickly on the massive rock, shock and anger written all over his face.

Then the boulder was completely lashed to pieces, revealing the white angel, unharmed, her two gunblades now gravitating around her rapidly, her eyes still set on the silver haired man.

She flew back at him in an instant, unleashing her full power on her opponent, who could do nothing but gather all of the darkness he had to be able to parry the lighting-fast strikes that fell on him ferociously.

He blocked and blocked, feeling the strengh of her light burning the surface of his skin, until it stopped.

Heaven's angel backed away, letting him stare at the lash arcoss his chest.

The wound was not fatal, just deep enough so it would hurt at every move he'd make.

He glared furiously at her.

-' The only monster that will die here today is you Sephiroth.', Angela declared in an

otherworldly voice.

-' Don't under-hestimate me!', he yelled back, thighly clutching the Masamune in his hand, his fury feeding his darkness.

The two angels flew at each other once more, their incredible speed making them nothing but blurry spots of black and white, when two united voices called out, breaking them apart.

-' Sephiroth!!'

The One-Winged Angel stared down, to see to Cloud and Leonheart at the entrance of the plate as well as his puppet and the keyblade brat's friend on the top of the crystal cliffs.

His teal eyes flew around the arrivants, then he raised his gaze to the angel that hovered in front of him.

-' This is not over.' he affirmed before dissapearing in a dark flash.

- - - - -

-'Sephiroth!!', Mary's voice echoed with Cloud's once more.

The brunette took a step towards the ledge of the cliff, but Riku held her back.

-' He's long gone.', he said to her, but she ignored him, brushing his hand off.

- - - - -

Angela, still floating in the air, looked down, her angelic wings flapping behind her back as the two gunblade slowed their revolution around her until they where only hovering on her sides.

Then, they simply fell down, the sharp blades digging deep into the crystal ground.

The sorceress hovered a little longer, then tilted her head back and closed her eyes before

falling at her turn.

Leon reacted quickly, rushing to the point of impact, and caught the raven haired woman before she hit the ground.

-' Angie!', let out Zell in a worried tone as he struggled in vain to get up. ' Is she okay?!'

The brunette turned to Cloud, directing him to the blonde skater with a sign of the head, then focused on the girl in him arms.

There were no apparent wounds and her breathing was deep and steady, as if she were asleep.

-' I'm no healer, but she seems alright.', he declared to the two blondes as they approached, the soldier helping the smaller man to walk. ' I'd say physical and magical exhaustion. And you?'

-' I'm fine. The bastard only busted my knee so I could do nothing but stare.'

-'Better bring them to Aerith, just in case.', suggested Cloud.

The steel-eyes brunette nodded.

-' Is everything okay?', shouted Riku from the top of the cliffs.

-' Nothing too grave, but run ahead and tell Aerith we're bringing wounded.', the gunblader demanded to the duet of teens.

- - - -

-'Come on.', The silver haired boy said to the girl as he turned around.

-'You go.', replied the brunette harsly as she stared at the horizon, her eyes still shining with darkness.

-' Forget it. He's gone now.' he insisted, but he knew there was nothing he could do now, and he had no time to fight her.

-' Leave me alone. I don't need your help.', she declared before running off.

Riku sighed. This would have to wait. He turned around and started to run towards Merlin's place.

Then an idea struck him.

-' Treasure!', he called out loud, grinning.

A demi-second afterwards, Radiant Garden's three fairies appeared in a glimmer of sparkles, flying around him as he kept running.

-'Treasure? Where?', asked the blonde one impatiently.

The keyblader took out a few pieces of munny.

-' I got a mission for you.'

-'As long as you pay...', declared the dark garbed one in an equal tone.

-' Gullwings, at your service!', said the brunette with enthousiasm.

-'Yuna, I want you to follow Leon around. Come back quickly if they get in any trouble', the teen demanded and he threw munny to the first fairy.

-'Got it!'

-'Paine, try to track down Sephiroth.', he pursued, throwing munny to the second fairy, who nodded as she grabbed the orb.

-'And Rikku, I need you to follow Mary. If you and Paine ever meet up, come back to tell me A.S.A.P.'

-'Roger!!', replied the third fairy as she catched her pay.

-' And girls? I need you to be discreet.', he added as the gave another piece to the three of

them.

-'No sweat!'

-' Gullwings! Move out!'

And the three girls dissapeared in a sparkling flash, leaving Riku on his rush towards town.

- - - - -

The three men stood between the fallen swords in the middle of the natural plate, the young sorceress still lying in Leon's arms.

-'What is she?', asked the brunette to Zell, curious to know where such a frail women could find the strengh to face and injure an man like Sephiroth.

-' She's a sorceress.', answered the blonde with a proud grin. ' Just like Merlin or Yen Sid.'

-'... That might explain it.', added Cloud.

-' ... yeah. I've never see a limit break this impressive.', replied the gunblader thoughfully.

-' Wait! Limit what?', demanded the skateboarder, rather confused.

-' Limit break. What she just did.', declared the steel-eyed man.

-' And what the hell is that?'

-' Limit Break. Overdrive. Trance. Call it what you want. There a few who can actually use it, and even fewer who can control it, but when certain conditions are met, the magical energies flowing in and around the person react to the adrenalin in their blood, allowing them to break their own limits.', Leon explained. ' The result is different for everyone, as well as the lenght of time it'll stay and the number of times it can be repeated.'

-' Oh... Well that's pretty nice I guess. Wish I could do that too. Can it be learned?!', Zell

asked, his natural enthousiasm taking over.

-'... maybe.', was the brunette's answer.

-'Leon.', Cloud broke in, his eyes fixed on one of the pistol handled swords that were stuck in the ground.

The man posed Angela on the ground as he turned towards the weapon.

A gunblade.

Revolver model.

With a silver lion engraved in the blade.

An exact copy of his own.

The gunblader took out his weapon and compared it to the sorceress's. Identical.

_''What the ...''_

-'Wow! They're the same...', let out the injured man in surprise.

-'How..?', the blonde soldier wondered out loud, echoing the brown haired man's thoughts.

-'... I don't know.', he replied before turning back to Zell. 'Has she ever seen anything like

this before?', he asked the skater as he showed him his gunblade.

The younger man shook his head.

-' Nope, not that I know of. I didn't even know she could use a sword.'

The tall, blue-eyed warrior tucked his own blade away, and reached out for the copy, who vanished the moment his gloved hand made contact with the handle, leaving nothing but a delicate hairpin in Leonheart's closed fist.

-'Angie's hairpin!'

The brunette breathed in deeply, mentally adding all this to the list of things he'd have to find answers for, starting to wish he had listened to Aerith and simply stayed in bed.

Too much mystery, not enough explainations.

He was starting to get sick of it.

The man walked to the other weapon stuck in the ground.

Another gunblade.

Hyperion model.

He remembered seeing it in a magazine somewhere.

He reached out for the blade, which also dissapeared leaving an hairpin. Looking on the ground around the sleeping young woman, the gunblader found a third trinket.

-'What's with these?', he demanded Zell, a bit of annoyment piercing in his voice.

-'Gift from Ol'Yen Sid. She said they were magic amplifiers.'

Leon nodded, then put the ornaments in his pocket and went back towards the inconscious sorceress.

-'Let's get going.', he said plainly as he bent down to lift the girl on his back.

-'Want me to carry her?', Cloud demanded.

-'No. I'll be fine.', the brunette replied, his friends' worries making him sound like a broken record.

The shorter man simply shrugged, then the two blondes slowly headed out of the plate, followed by the gunblader carrying Angela on his back.

- - - - -

Mary turned a corner in a random alley in some random ruins, cursing under her breath.

Her Angel had been wounded, and was nowhere to be found.

And she was lost. Again.

_''Damn it!''_

The more time she spent in Radiant Garden, the more she hated the stupid place.

She thought about going back to Merlin's house as she arrived at a deserted fountain she had been three times before, but she had her pride.

Going back just like that would mean Riku was right.

And even if she had seriously considered going back, she had absolutely no idea where to find the freaking house.

She felt like screaming off the top of her lungs.

- - - -

Leon was more than glad when he finally saw the Restoration Committee's HQ at the horizon.

Though he was trying his best to hide it, he was completly out of breath, his heart pumping loudly in his ears.

Cloud had proposed an exchange a couple of times along the way, but the brunette had refused.

The girl wasn't heavy. He could have ran three times around town with her on his back. Or should have been able to, even though his trumping heart was saying otherwise.

He took a deep breath as he placed his hand on the door knob, gathering his remaining strengh to look as relaxed and in control as possible.

Aerith, Tifa, Sora, Riku and Kairi where waiting in the living room with worry written all over their face.

-'Finally!', said the dark haired fighter, slightly relieved.

-' How are they?', demanded the viridian eyed brunette as she walked towards the arrivants.

-' He's got a busted knee, and I'd say physical and magical exhaustion for her.', answered the gunblader as he tilted his head to point the wounded.

The healer headed to the blonde skater, took a quick look at his leg, then asked Kairi if she could take care of him, the girl accepting before leading the two blondes towards a chair. The woman then demanded her adoptive brother to put the sorceress down on the couch.

All the HQ's inhabitant turned their gazes on the red futon for a moment.

-' I'll just bring her upstairs.', replied the man, aware that a night on the 'Back-Killer' was

probably not good for the raven haired magician's condition.

He headed up the stairs, Aerith, Tifa and Cloud on his heels, straight for his room, and placed Angela on his bed before stepping back, happy to be relieved of the small burden that had gave him so much trouble, still struggling to keep his breath steading and slience his loud heartbeat.

The brown haired healer leaded down on the inconscious woman and examined her calmly, all eyes on her.

-'Exhaustion.', she finally confirmed after a moment. ' She should be fine after a good night's rest. What happened?', she asked, turning to the two men.

-' Limit Break.', answered Cloud. 'Powerful enough to harm Sephiroth.'

-'Impressive...', Tifa let out in awe, knowing well the One-Winged Angel's strengh.

-' She really is a sorceress after a...', Aerith begun, her voice getting blurry as Leon head

started to spin seriously, dark dots clouding his vision.

Next thing he knew, his knees crumbled under him.

Cloud quickly grabbed his elbow, keeping him from falling to the ground, allowing the taller man to put himself back on his feet still shaky and unsteady, not longer able to hide the fact that he was still out of breath.

A pair of viridian eyes darted on the brunette, an unusual anger shining in them.

-' Now I've had it! No more of this ''I'm fine'' talk. You are gonna rest. Order of the healer.', commanded Aerith with a rightful frustration that scared all the the room's occupiants. Aerith never raised her voice, and she never was angry. 'Tifa, bring him downstairs.'

The thought that the couch was not a better option for Leon than it was for Angela popped up in the fighter's head, but she knew better than to argue with a mad Aerith. Grabbing the gunblader's elbow to help him stand, she dragged him out of the room and down the hall.

-'Scary.', croaked the brunette bewteen two hard breaths.

-'Seriously. Getting her angry. You should know better.', was the dark haired woman reply.' Now you rest.', she proclaimed they arrived in the living room, almost throwing him on the red couch. The man simply grunted, giving her a deathly glare. 'Don't look at me, you brought this upon yourself.'

-'S'up?', demanded an interrogative Sora as he approached them.

-' He tried to overdo it, and he got Aerith mad.', aswered Tifa, her words leaving the three

teens and Zell in a shock slightly dued to fear.

The room became silent as a creaking sound came from the stairs, announcing the soldier and the healer's arrival. She smiled at the group still in shock, making them even more uneasy.

-' Your friend is alright, don't worry.', the brunette affirmed to the blonde skater in her

naturally calm tone.

The group relaxed in a deep sigh, her voice showing that she was visibly no more angry.

Aerith slowly walked towards Leon, smiling kindly this time, and put a soothing hand on his forehead.

-'Goodnight.', she said while casting a sleep spell, sending the man in a deep slumber.

- - - - -

-'He feld?!', asked Sora, skeptical, after hearing Riku short summary of what happened.

The two of them had gone to their room with Kairi after things had calmed down,pressing the silver haired teen into telling them everything he had seen.

-'Hey, I had an hard time believing it as well.' was the older boy's answer.

-'well... Sephiroth was wounded, right? And plus, Cloud and Leon were there, so it kinda makes sense no?', the red headed girl broke in.

-'Yeah, but still, Leon isn't in a shape to do anything for now, and he took us on with Angela and Zell without too much trouble.', said the brunette, a bit bitter as he stared down to his wounded arm.

-'That still leaves Cloud.' she protested back.

-' And you're forgetting an important thing.', the taller teen insisted. 'Angela. I've seriously never seen anything like that. Beats Cloud and Leon's limit breaks, easily.'

-' What did it looked like?', demanded Kairi, curious and admirative.

-' A bit like his final form,', he replied, pointing to Sora,' not as controlled, but even more impressive.'

-'Gee, thanks.', cut in the keyblade's chosen one, rolling his eyes.

-' It had a holy feeling to it.', the older teen pursued, ignoring his friend. ' It's hard to describe.'

-'But you haven't seen the fight?', pressed on the girl, eager to know how the kind young woman she met a few days ago could stand her ground against the One-Winged Angel.

Riku shoot his head with a grimace.

-' Nah. It ended as soon as we got there.'

The trio remained silent for an moment, the three of them trying to imagine just how it could have been.

-'... And how did Mary react?, the small girl demanded, breaking the silence, though she could already gues the answer. She didn't came back with the silver haired teen after all.

The boy rolled his eyes.

-' She went after him.'

-'How not surprising.', the younger keyblader stated, starting to get irritated by the way the girl was treating his friend. ' Maybe we should just...'

-'Leave that to me, okay?', the other interrupted. ' I know we can still help her.'

-' Trying hard I see.', Kairi stated with a kind smile.

-' Makes me wonder why?', said Sora with an interrogative look towards his friend.

The older keyblader shrugged with a small smirk.

-'You guys have done the same for me.'

-'Different case.', replied the brunette.

-'Is not. And plus, I found a way to be at many places at once, so let's just say I got it

covered okay?', Riku declared with a relaxed grin as he saw his friends eyebrows raise in

interrogation.

The answer to the teens silent question suddenly popped up in the room in three sparkling

flashes.

-'Gullwings,reporting in!', proclamed the brown haired fairy with a smile.

-'Took you long enough.'

-' Well, you saw them comming back safely, did you not?', was her reply.

The silver haired boy turned to the dark garbed fairy, who seemed even gloomier than usual.

-' I failed. The man was impossible to find.'

-'Doesn't matter. Just as long as she couldn't get to him.', the keyblader said as he looked

towards the blonde fairy, who was grinning widely.

-'Positive about that! She wandered around for a loooong time, got lost, turned in circles for a good hour, then met the old man Cid. They're headed this way right now.', she reported proudly.

-'Good. Have you been seen?'

-'Nope!'

-'Thanks girls.', Riku added, throwing a piece of munny to each of the fairies, who happily grabbed the gorlden orbs.

-'Gullwings, at your service!', concluded the brunette before the three of them dissapeared the way they had come.

The teal eyed teen grinned as he turned to his friends, the girl smiling at the sight of his

ingeniosity, the boy staring with a crooked eyebrow.

-'You asked the fairies to track them down?!', he demanded, stunned by the idea.

-'They do the job, as long as you pay.', the older boy replied, still grinning widely.

-'Pfffff...'

- - - - -

-'So where's da Riku-boy? Wasn't he 'posed to guide you around?', Cid asked Mary as they were walking down towards the Retoration Committee's HQ, the sun setting down behind them.

The brunette simply stared down at her shoes, not really eager to explain the older man that she ran after the committee's enemy for something else than try to beat him down.

-'He had something else to do, so we splited ways.', she muttered.

-'Kids these days...' he gumped as he lid up a cigarette. ' What was so important he'd leave ye to get lost?'

The girl sighted. She had never like being hammered with questions, but the man seemed cool enough, his grouchy attitude reminding her of her own.

-' He... Something happened with Sephiroth, and Zell and the wi... Angela got hurt, so he went back to tell the people at the house.'

-'You should've just went with him.'

-'Maybe... I just thought I'd be okay on my own...'

-' An idependant girl eh? I like that. Not enough of them these day.', the blonde mechanic said with a chuckle. 'Don't ye worry, we'll get ya to the castle tomorrow.'

The teen simply nodded, the duet walking in silence for a long while, until Merlin's house got in sight.

-' Here we go. You weren't that far off.', Cid declared as he threw his cigarette away.

The two of them entered the house to find Cloud, Aerith and Tifa talking around the table, Leon deeply asleep on the couch and Yuffie folling around on the old man's computer.

-'Get off that!!', the blonde mechanic shouted to the young ninja, who laughted as she jolted away from the precious instrument.

-'That's where you were!', said Aerith with relief.

-'Yeah.', grunted the man, his grumpy tone contrasting the young woman's happiness. ' Gummy ship's been giving me trouble, and missy here got lost.' , he replied, heading for the cupboards to prepare some tea.

Mary lowered her head as he mentionned her, but her cheap excuse seemed to pass unnoticed, so she slowly started to walk towards the stairs.

-' Heard Sephiroth attacked the kids.', declared Cid in a casual tone, attracting everyone's

attention, except for Cloud's, who had his eyes fixed on the brown haired teen.

-' Yes.', Tifa answered. ' Cloud wants to track him down tomorrow.'

-'Good idea.', added the mechanic.

-'You in?', the dark haired fighter asked back while the younger blonde got up and walked towards Mary.

-'Dunno. Still have that ship to set up.'

-'They can stay for one more day.'

-'I'll see..'

-' You.', Cloud said to the small brunette in a low tone, leaving the others to their

conversation. ' ...You're looking for Him as well, aren't you?', he asked the girl, the two of

them sharing the same glitter in their eyes.

She quickly saw that the man's relation with her Angel was different from the other's. She could thrust him, at least to a certain point.

-'... I have things to ask him...', she said.

-' So do I. Join us tomorrow.', he demanded simply before returning to the table.

He didn't wait for the answer.

He didn't have to.

He knew her reply just as well as she did.

They shared the same need after all.

_'' ...Okay...''_

Mary then went up the stairs, a fatigue she had be unaware of until now creeping up her body.

She'd have to rest for tomorrow anyway.

It would be an important day.

* * *

That's it for this chapter!! PLEASE comment. I love them. I read them. I give love to those who send them. COMMENTS!! See you as soon as possible with a new chapter with 50 more fluff (cause we loves it)!!

On another note that might be spoiler-ish (though you probably all know where I'm going with this)

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I'd like to say I had the idea for the fight MONTHS before seeing mountyoum's Dead Fantasy 2, thought some might not believe me...

If you don't know what I'm talking about, and you don't really care about the small possible spoiler if you haven't already guessed it, youtube dead fantasy ( 1 and 2, both are awesome) or go on gametrailers, should be in the popular user movies.


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